


In The Aftermath

by fangirl6202



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tags Are Hard, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family, Trans Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-08-04 21:11:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16354373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl6202/pseuds/fangirl6202
Summary: "Tony..." Stephen spoke, and he knew immediately. Things weren't going to go his way. They never did. Tony felt Peter's hand on his shoulder as they started to violently shake.No, God, please no."Rogers was pardoned. Him and his team are coming back to the Compound."-----Months after reversing the Snap, Tony Stark's life is finally starting to look up.It only begins to fall apart when the Rogue Avengers return to the Avengers Compound





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Not Team Cap friendly, and I don't know how long it will take for that to change, or if it will, but apparently this needs to stated since someone has already gotten pissed off

   After 40 years, Tony Stark expected himself to be able to handle bad days. He had done it before. He had made it through so many. The days throughout his childhood when Howard Stark towered over him, the day he towered over Stark's casket, the day he was captured by terrorists and those days following, the day he couldn't save Sokovia, the day a man he respected drove his shield through the arc reactor in his chest in Siberia ...

 

The day Thanos snapped his fingers and he lost everyone.

 

   But today. Today seemed to be the worst day in a long time. He had been foolish and naive to think any semblance of tranquility would last. Nothing seemed to work out for him in the long run.

   Sighing, he made his way to one of the many kitchens in the Compound, almost reaching into the liquor cabinet. He _really_ wanted a drink. His fingers twitched as he longed to hold a glass of whiskey between them.

   But Tony had made a promise. A promise to Stephen Strange, who got a disappointed look in his eyes whenever he saw Tony with a drink. To Hope van Dyne, who narrowed her eyes as she monitered how many drinks he consumed in a go. To Wade Wilson, who, in a rare moment of seriousness, told Tony that alcohol wasn't going to fix or change a thing. To Rhodey, his oldest and closest friend, the only one who knew the full extent of his drinking problem.

   To Peter Parker. The kid who believed that Tony could beat his alcoholism. That he was better than this.

 

The kid who had hope.

 

   So no. Tony didn't get a drink. Instead, he forced himself to walk away to find his intern Peter Parker watching a movie, wrapped up in at least 4 blankets, sipping a Capri sun.

   Tony felt the shadow of a smile at the sight of him. Apparently he wasn't the only one coping with the day.

   Peter looked up, eyes widening and grinning at him. It took only a few seconds for that grin to fade. "Mr. Stark, sir. Are you ok?"

   He motioned for the boy to follow him.

   Turning off the TV and throwing the blankets off, Peter got up and walked with him to the elevator. Without even saying a word, Peter pushed the button for Level 21, and the two of them made their way down into the lower levels of the compound. The doors opened onto Peter's floor.

   Months ago, Tony had one of the unused levels remodeled to accommodate the kid when it was decided he would spent the weekdays and whole summer at the Compound, a compromise that May was becoming fonder of.  2 large bedrooms, a chemistry lab, a game room, bathrooms, a music room, an indoor swimming pool, a screening room, and a room that was entirely a ball pit with trampoline walls, and any other room Peter would have liked. Of course, the kid had said he couldn't accept all this, but Tony had just shrugged and said if he didn't want it, someone else would.

   "So..." Peter drew out. It was obvious he was trying to lighten the mood. He was a good kid like that.  "What do we do now, Mr. Stark?"

   "Mario Kart," Tony said, voice cracking slightly. If Peter noticed, he didn't say anything. He just smiled that toothy grin of his and grabbed Tony's hand as he excitedly led them to the game room. At first, he didn't see the point in the game, but the wave of euphoria that came with absolutely _demolishing_ Peter was indescribable.

   Immediately falling into routine, Tony told FRIDAY to adjust. As the room was reorganizing itself, he grabbed snacks from the mini fridge and pantry in the corner. While Peter was setting up the console, Tony focused on his breathing.

_Get over it, Stark. Your dumb ass is overreacting. This anxiety shit is getting old._

   "Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, holding out his controller. "Is everything ok?" Accepting the controller, Tony nodded. His hands were trembling but he still looked Peter in the eyes.

 

"J-Just don't stop talking."

 

 

   Without any further questions, Peter happily complied, starting the game and launching into random thoughts and stories. Tony was grateful. Over the months, Peter had seemingly learned when to do all the talking for the two of them.

  
   It had started little over 4 months ago. After a short briefing from Happy, which was really just his head-of-security grumbling "That spider-kid is going to be the death of me," while pacing through the compound, he realized he needed a way to get Peter to stop hassling Happy. Not knowing what else to do, Tony had told the kid to meet him at a diner for "Official Stark Internship Business." after school. In all reality, he had just bought Peter a burger and sat down with him to eat.

   It had taken a few awkward minutes, but soon enough, the two had sprung into an hour long conversation that had Tony's sides hurting from so much laughter.

   It became a daily tradition after that.

   At four, Tony would meet up with Peter and they would make their way to a new restaraunt every day. Sometimes it'd be a classy 4 (or even 5) star restaurant they'd almost get kicked out of for being so noisy, or sometimes it'd be Thai takeout eaten on a random rooftop. Sometimes they wouldn't even talk, just look out at the skyline in silence for hours before leaving back to the Compound. Tony appreciated those days just a little more.

   Their conversations were also interesting, ranging from vine culture to international political agendas.

   Stark never would have guessed how active the teen was in political rallies. In the course of time that Tony knew him, Spider-Man had been seen at Black Lives Matter, Pride, March For Our Lives, Women's March, and multiple other protests. Peter never let their conversations get _too_ heavy, but it was refreshing for Tony to have mature discussions on those types of issues.

 

   Tony found himself finally relaxing, something he hadn't done since everything with Thanos. Spending time with Peter left no room in the genuises' mind for any negativity.

  
He needed that today more than anything.

 

   "So now I'm over here thinking _'oh crap, I need to pee!' a_ nd _'Why did I bet Ned I could chug 3 bottles of Mountain Dew in less than a minute?'_ And I really got to go to the bathroom, but I dont know if I'm _allowed?_ The last thing I need right now is to be called Penis Parker in front of--"

   "Wait, what?" Tony interrupted, pausing the game and speaking for the first time in the hour they'd been down there. Peter let out a yelp of disbelief, letting out a sharp, "Mr. Stark that's cheating! I was just about to win!"

   Tony had to take a deep breath as he felt his blood begin to boil. "They call you Penis Parker at school?"

   Peter visibly froze, eyes widening. He wasn't meeting his mentors eyes, instead choosing to become very interested in his can of soda. "...um...no?"

Tony raised an eyebrow

   It was only very recently that Peter had come out to him as trans. Tony himself had no trouble coming out as bisexual as a teenager, but coming out as trans was a completely different field he wasn't familiar with. If asked, he'd deny the fact that he spent a solid 6 hours on researching anything and everything about being transgender that night Peter came out to him. He was genuinely concerned about Peter's well-being, and it surprised him just how protective he grew to be of him.

   "Well not... _really_ ," Peter mumbled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Just this one kid more than anyone. Everyone else doesn't really care, but it's still something I'm sensitive about."

   He couldn't believe this. Why would anyone pick on someone like Peter? The kid was crazy smart, had a set of morals that Tony could only wish for, and could pummel the shit out of any of his classmates without breaking a sweat.

   Tony leaned forward, his forearms bent on his knees, until he was staring directly into the kid's eyes. "Tell me their name and I will _personally_ make sure they get expelled and have trouble getting into any Ivy League school."

   "What?! Mr. Stark, he's a dick, but that's no reason to ruin his future career!"

   Tony sat back and sighed, rolling his eyes to the ceiling. Peter was always too kind for his own good. Once again, he had a code of morals that Tony could only wish to have. Had it been _his_ choice, he would have thrown the bully under a literal bus with no hesitation.

   Before Tony could respond by saying that the son of a bitch deserved it for using transphobic language, a shimmering rip in the space time continuum opened in front of the pair, producing two men.

   " _Colonel Rhodes is here, sir,"_ An electronic female voice said from all around them, amusement in her voice. FRIDAY had taken a strong liking to Rhodey ever since the Civil War, keeping vigilance on him even when Tony hadn't asked it of her. He wouldn't lie, it was a relief to know someone else was looking out for him.

A pause.

   " _Dr. Stephen Strange is also here, sir_ ," FRIDAY reported, a dreamy lilt to her voice.

Tony was beginning to believe that him and his AI had the same taste in men.

   "I see him, baby girl," Tony responded, taking in the men in front of him. Tony was done denying that he found Stephen Strange attractive. How could he not? A well-toned body, a jawline that could cut through steel, piercing eyes, and a quick wit. It was even harder not to notice as for once, he wasn't in his Kamar-Taj robes. He was wearing a pair of Levi's and a grey sweater, his hair messy and not gelled back as it usually was. It was easy to forget that Stephen, who lived like an actual goddamn monk, used to be an average human being, albeit a rich neurosurgeon.

   Tony was about to poke fun at him, until he saw the look on their faces. The usually well-composed man was shaken, though he was trying to not show it.  He looked at Rhodey, holding himself up on Stephen's shoulder. A pang of guilt shot through him.

   If he had worked harder to compromise with Steve, the Civil War wouldn't have happened and Rhodey...

   "What happened?" Tony asked, voice no louder than a whisper.

   The two men exchanged a glance and it was Stephen who maintained eye contact. Tony recognized that look. It was the look that only a  Doctor could master. The look used when they had to deliever difficult news.

   "Tony..." Stephen spoke, and he knew immediately. Things weren't going to go his way. They never did. Tony felt Peter's hand on his shoulder as they started to violently shake.

 _No, God_ , please _no_.

"Rogers was pardoned. Him and his team are coming back to the Compound."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a lot of feelings about the way Tony was treated in Civil War, so I thought it'd be fun to write about that resolution, or lack of. 
> 
> I will be updating every week, thank you so much for taking the time to read! Leave me some comments! I actually thrive off of comments so who knows, I might update quicker if I get the motivation ;)
> 
> (If you have any specific scenes or lines you'd like to see in this, please comment them down below! I'll do my best to incorporate some of them!)


	2. Chapter 2

**One Month Later**

 

Peter Parker slammed his laptop shut, groaning and rubbing his tired eyes as he got up from his desk. He had been working on his massive project for Physics for the past two hours, but had managed only to write four sentences. 

 

He was _seriously_ stressing

 

Only last month, he was living the dream. It had taken him dying, an experience he wasn't willing to repeat, but he finally became an Avenger. Like, an _honest to God_ Avenger. 

 

It was _so_ cool. 

 

Things were going so well. He was living in the Avengers Compound, he was on his way of graduating early,  _Tony freaking Stark called him son._ It was more than Peter could have ever wished for.

It only took the news that Craptain America (a name Peter was proud of coining) and his team of Rogues were being reinstated for his dream to come crashing down. 

Almost immediately, the atmosphere in the Compound changed. Vision and Tony became withdrawn from everyone else, never coming down from their rooms, leaving Mr. Colonel Rhodey Sir to handle all matters with the Rogues. The New Avengers couldn't help but wonder just what had truly happened between the original Avengers that could wreck Tony Stark's life. Peter was curious, but never once attempted to go to Mr. Stark about it. He knew when someone needed to be left alone

But then Mr. Stark stopped taking him out everyday. 

That hurt Peter the most. He hadn't realized just how much he appreciated those outings until they were taken away from him. After that, he wasn't able to concentrate in school, resorting to getting answers to homework from MJ and Ned. He wasn't eating correctly, nor was he sleeping well. 

All in all, life was going to shit. 

Telling Friday to turn off the lights, Peter made his way to the elevator, taking a sip from his coffee.

" _What the hell,"_ he thought, absentmindedly listening to the elevator music, which was a piano version of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. _"A month ago, I couldn't even_ stand _coffee_ ," he thought, continuing to drink it none the less. 

He yawned as the elevator opened up to the main level, and he stepped off in the common area to find a red-clad, wisecracking mercenary sitting on the couch, Golden Girls playing on the flat screen in front of him. 

Peter smiled. 

Wade Wilson was an interesting guy. He hadn't shared much about his past, but that was to he expected. The only thing Peter knew was the reason why he was covered head-to-toe with scars. At first, Wade was hesitant to take off his mask, but as they got closer, Wade trusted him more. After taking off his mask and being more comfortable out of his suit, Peter found out he was a massive Potterhead, super smart, sweet, compassionate, skilled (the man was in Special Forces according to Mr. Stark? How hecking cool?), and a major softie.  

Peter was hopelessly in love with the guy

"Hey, Spidey," he chirped, not looking up from his task of carefully wiping down his duel katanas. Even with his mask on, Peter knew he was doing that cute thing where he stuck his tongue out in concentration.

Another thing about Wade was that while he was messy, he was super meticulous and concerned when it came to his arsenal of weapons. Already, the coffee table in front of him had 4 pistols, 6 daggers, a pair of throwing stars, and one hello kitty watch on it. 

Yeah, Peter was confused about the last one too. 

"Hey, Pool," Peter said quietly, putting his coffee cup down and  flopping down onto the couch next to him, his head landing on Wade's shoulder.

Of course, Wade knew right away that something wasn't ok. He always knew. 

Without saying anything, he sheathed his katanas and pulled off his mask. Even though it had been months since he first saw them, Peter was still fascinated by how stunning his eyes were. To most people, they were regular brown. To him, they were the rich color of syrup, with golden flecks in them. They were the most expressive part of Wade, able to convey 10 different emotions at once. 

"Are you sure you're ok, Baby boy?" Wade asked, grabbing Peter's hand and interlocking their fingers. "It's ok if you're not. This shit with Craptain America is enough to stress anyone out."

Peter snuggled into his side, not even caring how clingy he was being. "I'm not ok. I just don't want to be here right now." 

At that, Wade grinned. When their relationship first started, Peter had trouble deciphering which grin meant what. There was his " _I'm about to beat the shit out of this bad guy_ " grin, his " _Oh my God a Golden Girls marathon is about to start_!" grin, and many more. But now, Peter knew all of them, and he knew this grin the best. 

It was the, " _I'm about to do the sappiest romantic shit, Spidey, just watch_ ,"  grin. 

 

God, Peter loved that grin. 

 

"Tell you what," Wade said, looking down at Peter. "Why don't you and I go away for a bit? We don't need to be here when they get back. Think about it, just you, me, and Chinese takeout in our apartment."

Months ago, before they had even started dating, Peter and Wade had saved an apartment complex from an arsonist. The man who owned the complex was so grateful that he let them occupy one of the uninhabited apartments on the top floor as a safe house, free of charge. Obviously, they used it to watch a crapton of movies and eat junk food without getting judged.  Now, it was their little escape from the world. Sometimes, it was just a bit too much, knowing that in the Compound he and Wade would truly never be left alone. They went there a lot. No one knew about the apartment, not even Mr. Stark. It was their perfect spot. 

Peter smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice," He said, lifting his head to meet Wade's gaze. "But only if I get to choose the movies."

Wade laugh, a pure sound that made Peter feel warm all over. His  "Whatever you want, baby boy."

 

\----- 

 

Tony stood trembling in front of his mirror, working on buttoning his suit. It had been a while since he had worn this particular one. 

It was Steve's favorite. 

He didn't know what made him want to wear it. Tony had just woken up and the suit came to mind. He had tried on four other ones, any other ones, before coming back to that one goddamn suit in the back of his closet. 

He had avoided looking into the mirror for the past month. Tony knew he wouldn't like what he saw. Now, he could see just how the last month had affected him. Little food and sleep had left him pale and thinner. For the time in years, he was able to see the pale faded scar on his right cheekbone, obtained in---

_Suddenly, he was back in Siberia, Steve Rogers over him._

  
_As Bucky Barnes lied feet away, Tony watched in shock as Cap drove the shield in, again and again and again_.

_Time went by. Tony didn't know if it was minutes or seconds. He watched as Captain America limped away, Barnes on his arm. He knew what mutual respect they had was gone._

 

_Tony had clung onto the tiny hope that they could make up. That the Avengers could work through their problems and become a team again. But now, that hope was fading. Nothing would be like it used to be._

 

_"You don't deserve that shield!"_

 

_He kept walking away._

 

_"My father made that shield!"_

 

It was all Tony's fault. All of it.

He wished he had tried harder. If he had, the Avengers would have banded together to fight Thanos, Rhodey wouldn't be paralyzed, Peter wouldn't have _died in his arms and--_

A sharp knock on his door jerked him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see the Sorcerer Supreme leaning on his door frame. 

"Tony," the man said, concern lacing his words.  "Are you ok?"

It had been a while since Tony had seen the witch doctor, and he hadn't realized just how much of a calming presence he was. He considered lying, he really did, but truly? 

He was tired.

"No." Tony said, not even bothering to hide how tired his voice was. "No, I'm not."

Judging by the look on Strange's face, he wasn't expecting a genuine answer. Nobody ever did when dealing with Stark. "Tony, can I come in?" 

He hesitated. 

Ever since he was a child, Tony had considered a bedroom to be sanctuary. As a child, the only person he allowed into his room was Edwin Jarvis. In his room, he couldn't be hit or yelled at. In his room, he was safe. Even as an adult, Tony had trouble losing the mindset that his bedroom was a safe space. 

The last person to be in his room was Pepper... 

"Yeah, come on in," Tony said, making his way over to his bed, shoving things off to make room. He watched as Stephen made his way into the room, glancing at the clothes and unfinished projects littering the floor with thinly veiled disgust. 

"You sure have been occupied," Stephen commented, leaning over and picking up a bunch of parts put haphazardly together. Tony barely recalled what he had been doing when he made it. 

"Yeah," Tony said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I, uh, build. A lot. It helps me cope with my anxiety."

Stephen's eyebrow quirked up, and as he noticed the sheer magnitude of projects thrown on the ground, Tony could've sworn he looked hurt. 

"Tony," Stephen said, sitting down on the bed next to him. "In no way are you obligated to accompany us when the Rogues enter the Compo--"

"Yes, I am," He interrupted. He had already made up his mind. "This all happened because of me. I need to be there to clean up the mess I made." 

It wasn't the whole truth, but it was enough. He had played a big enough role in the War that he couldn't _not_ take blame. 

"Tony, please," Stephen said, voice barely above a whisper. Suddenly, Tony felt something covering his hands. 

He looked down and saw Stephen's scarred, trembling hands placed gently above his own and his heart stopped. He knew how Stephen hated physical contact, how he felt about his hands. If he was this serious...

Tony paused. "How about a compromise?" He said. " I won't leave your side and I'll tell you if it becomes too much to handle, ok?" 

A small smile fixated itself on the doctor's face, and Tony couldn't help but feel pride, even briefly. "Very well, Stark."

" _Boss,_ _a quinjet is approaching the Compound. Aboard it is: Steven Rogers, Sam Wilson, Clint Barton, ..."_

As FRIDAY named off the Rogues, Tony began to tremble. He barely noticed Stephen was telling him to breathe. He _did_ however notice that Stephen interlocked their fingers. 

"...Ok," Tony said, not even sure if he said it for his sanity or for Stephen's. "Let's go." 

If either minded that their fingers were still interlocked as they walked down to the hangar, neither spoke up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told y'all I would update if I got the motivation :))
> 
> Ok, let me just say. I do not ship underage Peter with Wade so do not even try to hit me with that. You take your interpretation of their ages, just know that Peter is 18.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve Rogers laid one hand on the back of the pilot seat, barely registering what "Hawkeye" Clint Barton was saying as they drew closer to New York. He watched in wonder as the colors of the world in front of him zoomed by, a _melting pot_ of greens, blues, reds, yellows.

_"Why did we come here?" Steve called out, holding a damp rag to his swollen eye. He groaned a bit as he accidentally bit down on his busted lip. It wasn't his fault this time, really. He had managed to bite down his tongue at the insults thrown his way, but then they called Bucky a..._

_His mother was in the other room, getting the kit she kept for situations like this._

_"Where, Steve?" Sarah Rogers asked as she walked back into the room, looking tired. Suddenly, a wave of guilt washed over Steve._ _His mother was barely coming back from a double shift, and already she was being kept from resting. All because Steve couldn't calm his temper_.

_"Here," he emphasized, hissing a bit as the familiar sting of alcohol touched his wounds. "To America."_

_His mother's hands stopped, and she looked into Steve's eyes. He had never thought of her as old, but_ _in that moment, Steve noticed all the tiredness of her face, and just how much_ _she had gone through._

_"Steve, what is this about?" She asked, and Steve couldn't lie to her._

_"They..._ _they called me names again, Ma. I walked away, but then they called Bucky...they called Bucky a mick."_

_A sharp inhale of breath._

_He and Bucky were just coming back from a picture show, were just laughing with each other as they walked down the streets together. Neither had noticed the Russian boys behind them until they started yelling._

_"Hey, Rogers! Why don't you face us, you fairy?!"_

_"Aw come on, face us you punk!"_

_Almost out of reflex_ , _Bucky gripped his arm, beginning to drag him away. "Don't even look back, Steve," he muttered._

 _"Just_ _keep walking, Stevie! You too, you fucking mick!"_

_Before Bucky could have possibly registered the insult, Steve had turned around and had already thrown the first punch._

_It hadn't gone well._

_"Why does everyone hate us, Ma?" He asked, no fury or malice in his voice. Only acceptance and tiredness. He had long ago realized and accepted that the Irish were hated, by everyone. "Why did we come to America if we were gonna be treated like this?"_

_"We came here for a better life," Sarah said, holding the wet rag to his eye again. "It doesn't seem like it, Steve, but you're living a better life here than you ever would have over there_. _America is a beautiful melting pot, if you only know where to look. A_ beautiful _melting pot."_

"How far out?" Steve asked, breaking his gaze with the outside to glance down at Clint. It was only _somewhat_ off to be in a quinjet after years in their own ship.

"Forty-five minutes," Clint responded, flipping on the auto pilot switch and getting out of the chair. The two of them walked away from the console area and sat down on the seats, next to their teammates.

"What do you think the Compound is like now?" Wanda asked, laying her head on Steve's shoulder. She was tired, they all were, so Steve wrapped an arm around her. In the past years, Wanda had become the little sister Steve never had. She looked up to him, and he would do anything to protect her.

"It's probably gone to shit," Clint snorted. "Stark must have had a hell of a time trying to find replacements for us. 10 bucks says he didn't find anyone, who's taking me up?"

Steve forced out a bark of laughter, but didn't know how he felt. He didn't like the idea that Tony was lonely in the Compound. He knew what it was like to feel alone in the world. Tony Stark may have been in the wrong about the Accords but he didn't deserve solitude.

"I just want to see Vis again," Wanda said, smiling softly at the ground. Steve knew how much Wanda loved him, and he knew how much Vision adored her.

Vision would look past Tony's corruptive words and realize Wanda was a victim, just like Bucky.

As they sat back in silence, reality started to slowly seep in. No more fear of being hunted down by governments, no more jumping from country to country in the middle of the night. Now, they were free of the title of "terrorists" and "fugitives."

Steve supposed he should be grateful that their 3 month long, internationally followed, highly important trial ended in being reinstated as Avengers and a $5,000 fine, yet he couldn't help but think that nothing was _that_ easy.

It just meant worse things were meant to come.

\-----

Tony expected his appearance wouldn't go unnoticed by his team. He knew they were the type of people to plan a surprise birthday party even after _explicit orders to not throw a suprise party._

What he _wasn't_ expecting, was for all those assholes to start clapping and whooping the second he and Stephen stepped into the West Wing Common Area. Tony jumped as he saw a bright flash of light, blinking as he made out the silhouette of Rhodey holding up his phone.

"Welcome back, Tony!" Someone called out, and the cheering only intensified. He was grinning infectiously as the rest of the Avengers greeted him just as enthusiastically. He looked around at all the people who _genuinely_ cared about him, and then:

He noticed that Peter was nowhere to be seen.

How long had it been since he took the kid out? He had pushed his intern away and he shouldn't have. What if Peter held it against him? What if he just ruined everything?

Then he realized Deadpool was also gone. Were they hanging out now? Somehow, that was more concerning. He'd have to have another talk with his intern about how dangerous Wade Wilson was.

"Come on, Tony," Rhodey said, leading him and Stephen to the couch. "We have stuff to tell you!"

They spent the next 15 minutes recapping what had happened in the past month. Missions, pranks, everything and anything. No one brought up how Tony seemingly went m.i.a. for weeks, and for that, he was grateful. No one commented on how he was leaning into his witch doctor, but he did see Miles Morales roll his eyes and pass a $10 bill to America Chavez.

" _Sir, the Rogues are now entering the Compound perimeter,"_ FRIDAY reported, and the talking immediately stopped.

"Are you sure you want to be here, Tony?" Stephen asked before anybody else could.

Did he? Did he really? He considered leaving, really, but then the looked around the room. At all the people who were apart of the New Avengers who showed up for this meeting.

Rhodey, Vision, Stephen Strange, Carol Danvers, Matt Murdock, Hope van Dyne, Eddie Brock, America Chavez, Miles Morales. They were all looking at him, concern in their eyes. He thought of those who weren't there. T'Challa, Shuri, the Guardians, Peter, Wade Wilson, Thor, Bruce Banner. He knew they cared too.

The original Avengers never once cared for him, but his new team did. They would stand by him at all times , and he needed to do the same for them.

"I'm right where I want to be," Tony said, addressing everyone in the room. "Now come on, we have a plan to stick to, guys."

\-----

Steve smiled as he slung his duffel over his shoulder, the quinjet landing itself in the Compound hangar.

"Steve?" A voice asked, and he turned around to see Bucky, his own duffel in hand. He was looking down at the floor, guilt evident in his posture.

"Steve, I shouldn't be here."

He sighed, and immediately wrapped his arms around his Bucky. Bucky hugged him back, and Steve saw the rest of his team walk off the quinjet to give them space.

"Buck, you have every right to be here," he said, and he meant it. It was a cause of concern, according to their judge, that Bucky should become a Avenger. It had taken testiments from King T'Challa and Princess Shuri and an unknown 3rd party for the judge to say he was free of Hydra control. Bucky deserved a 2nd chance, and now he was finally getting it.

"Guys?" Natasha called out to them. "You should come see this."

Steve sighed and clapped Bucky on the back once before letting go of him. As they walked off the quinjet, they saw...

No one.

Absolutely no one was there.

They all looked at each other in confusion.

"This has to be Stark's doing," Wanda growled, her fingers producing angry red sparks.

"Yeah, no shit. But where is everyone?" Sam asked, voicing everyone's question.

 _" Hello, reinstated Avengers,"_ A voice said, and everyone jumped before remembering Tony had an AI after Vision. What was it's name? FRIDAY? " _The rest of the Avengers are preoccupied at the moment, unable to see you. They are in the West Wing Communal Area."_

They all looked at each other, all glaring. Steve would hate to be Tony at that moment.

"Come on, then," He said, hoisting his duffel again. "Let's see how badly Tony needs our help."

\-----

Tony was clutching onto Stephen, the both of them laughing hysterically, alongside every Avenger in the room. A bowl of popcorn was making it's way around and he shoved a handful into his mouth, disgusting Stephen by chewing loudly.

They were watching a _really_ terrible horror movie, one made in the late 90s with horrendous special effects. Maybe the laughter was a bit more boisterous than what it would usually be, but it was no less genuine.

Maybe it was because the lights were off, but he didn't even notice that the Rogues had entered the room until Stephen gripped his arm a tad bit tighter. He looked up and saw them, all of them standing awkwardly in the threshold, some of them looking confused, others looking angry.

"FRIDAY, pause the movie," He said, all smiles and laughter even though he was trying not to let his tremors show.

Multiple cries of annoyance went up, and Tony rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys, this is somewhat important. New Avengers, meet the Rogues," he said, gesturing to them as he spoke.

"Rogues?" Clint Barton snarled, and Tony suddenly remembered how much the guy aggravated him. "Is that what you're calling us now?"

Tony shrugged nonchalantly. "It fits. Now, Rhodey? Could you take them to their rooms? I'd do it myself but I want to finish this movie."

"You're horrible," Rhodey said as he got off the couch and kissed Carol on the cheek. Tony winked at him, gaining an eye roll from his old friend. He'd make sure to pay for one of his and Carol's date night as repayment. God knows he had a lot to make up for.

"Classic Stark," Sam Wilson said, crossing his arms. "Not even gonna give us the time of day."

"Wilson, be quiet" Rhodey snapped. Tony could see Sam visibly tense, but say nothing. He respected Rhodey too much to talk back to him. "You'll see him at the meeting in two hours. Now, follow me to your new rooms."

Without another word, the Rogues left and Tony was finally able to breathe again. Taking a deep breath, he snuggled back into Stephen's side, maybe closer than before.

"FRIDAY,  play the movie."

\-----

"Now," Colonel Rhodes said as he led Steve Rogers and his team down the twisting hallways. "Due to structural damages in your old wing, your new rooms are in the East Wing."

"Structural damage?" Clint snorted. "What did Stark do?"

Rhodey turned to look at him, a coldness in his eyes that Steve hadn't seen in ages. "Actually, it was you and Ms. Maximoff throwing Vision through 12 floors."

Clint turned red and closed his mouth. He didn't notice Natasha's smirk or how she looked away to hide it.

Steve, however, was more interested in the walls. In his time there, the walls were barren, maybe an odd painting or two. Now, the walls were full of photographs and drawings.

"What are all of these?" Steve asked, studying one of the drawings. It was pink construction paper, and on it was a childish drawing of Iron Man and a small, blonde girl holding hands. " _THANK YOU IRON MAN!!!"_ was written in blue crayon at the top. Next to that drawing was a blurry photograph of Tony in his iron suit, the face guard off, crouching down and high fiving a blonde girl who couldn't have been older than five. A note was pinned under it.

_"Thank you for taking time to make sure Emily was ok. She was terrified by the 'bad guy' (her words) but you giving her a high-five and a hug made her feel safe.  It was a small feature, but it made her whole year. Thank you. - Maria Knowles_

Rhodey followed his line and sight and saw the same drawing and photo. "It was something Carol suggested. She thought the walls looked too plain, so Tony started keeping everything to put up on the walls. Photos, drawings, thank you notes, newspaper clippings, drawings that kids send in, everything. That one was when aliens from another universe tried to blow up Manhattan. It didn't happen, Tony and Stephen made sure of that, but a lot of people got spooked. Tony took the time to make sure everyone was ok, and a lot of notes were mailed to the Compound. Every one of them got put up somewhere."

Steve couldn't help but look again and see that every photo on the wall was full of people he didn't know. Multiple were of Tony with a young boy, couldn't be older than 16. Others were of him and the other Avengers he briefly met. But in each one, without fail, he was smiling in a way he never had around Steve.

He couldn't tell why, but he was hurt. What did these new people do to make Tony smile in a way he was never able to accomplish?

As they got closer to their rooms, Steve noticed the amount of photos on the wall got smaller and smaller.

After a few more minutes of walking, Rhodey lead them to a group of rooms.  "These are your rooms. I promise you, more furniture will be brought in at your request.  If you need anything right now, you can tell me."

Bucky awkwardly raised his hand. "Can, I, uh, room with Steve?"

Rhodey looked between the two of them, concerned. "If you two are romantically involved, I need to know. Relationships can get in the way of missions and--"

"No, that's not it," Bucky said, looking anywhere but at Rhodey. "Steve is...he's the only one strong enough to hold me down when I wake up screaming."

"Ok." Was the only response. "If you two don't mind sharing a bed tonight, I can arrange for you to share a room. Now, I'll leave all of you to unpack and get settled in, but I'll be back in two hours to lead you to the Avengers Meeting. I suggest you stay put here until then."

"So we are on house arrest," Wanda said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Again."

"I assure you, Miss Maximoff, this is only so you don't venture into restricted areas."

"What the hell you mean 'restricted areas'"? Sam asked, stubbornly crossing his arms. "This is Stark's doing, isn't it?"

That was the wrong thing to say. Steve say it immediately in the way that Rhodey's posture and demeanor changed. "Tony has nothing to do with this. The _other_ Avengers have requested you not enter their living areas. Eddie, Dr. Strange, Cap' , Ms. America, Daredevil, Spiderman, Deadpool, and that's just to name a few. Now, _stay put._ I'll be back later."

Without another word, Rhodey shouldered past them and left.

All of them were left standing alone in their hallway, bags and items in hand.

"Well," Natasha said, breaking the silence.

 

 

"So much for not being able to replace us.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who don't know, "mick" is a slur for an Irish person. I don't take slurs lightly, as I'm a POC, and I'd like people to realize that the Irish were very badly discriminated against from the 1840s to the 1940s. Everyone has been a victim of racism, and I feel like that would have been a big part of Steve's life. 
> 
> Also, I've discovered the easiest way to piss someone off is to pretend they don't bother you at all. For me, it's a coping mechanism and I feel like Tony would use it often as he's been known to hide his feelings from everyone. 
> 
> Ok, that's all for my long note lol. Make sure to comment! You guys' comments always make my day :))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so i had to be gone for a week, which isn't fair to y'all, so I decided to write a very lengthy chapter for you guys to discuss (which i hope you do discuss lol) Have fun!

Peter was laughing hysterically as he watched Wade sing along (horribly he might add) to the Hindi song playing in their taxi cab, secretly taking photos that he would definitely be printing out. Peter loved taking pictures of Wade in general, but he loved them more when Wade was totally relaxed and happy in them. It only helped that their taxi driver was a close friend of theirs.

Peter wasn't _entirely_ sure how Dopinder had gotten tangled up with Wade, but the man was so chill about everything, to the point where Dopinder was one of the few people Wade was comfortable around without his mask. He was always the one to pick them up from the Compound on date nights into the city, and Peter found that he actually liked the guy. He was nice, always giving Peter containers of Indian food he had extra of, telling embarrasing stories of Wade (which he had no idea how he got those) and trying to teach them both Hindi songs.

Wade had said something about him wanting to become a contract killer, but he was pretty sure Wade was joking.

Instead of telling Wade to be quiet, Dopinder turned up the music and sang along with him until they pulled up to the Compound.

Before Peter could open his door, Wade jumped out of the car and held the door open, bowing dramatically as he helped the younger man out. Rolling his eyes, Peter laughed as Wade kissed his hand. He turned around and handed a $20 to Dopinder who took it with wide eyes.

"Thank you Mr. Mr. Pool!" The man said, smiling widely. "Mr. Pool has only ever given me high fives!"

"Cherish those high fives, Dopinder," Wade said seriously, widening his eyes and nodding his head slowly without breaking eye contact.

"Wade, were you not planning on paying Dopinder for this trip?"

Wade didn't even have to say anything for him to know the answer. They had this interaction with Dopinder almost every other day, it was basically a routine. Peter reached into his wallet and gave the man another $40. "Here. To pay for the _other_ rides my boyfriend's scimped you out of."

The man's grin only grew wider. "Thank you Mr. Mr. Pool! I will now accept the honor of being the best man at your wedding!"

Peter could have responded that a) They were not getting married anytime soon or b) Dopinder definitely wouldn't be _his_ best man, he decided it wasn't worth the time. Dopinder had been hinting at matrimony for months now.

The two of them waved their goodbyes and walked into the Compound, interlocking their fingers. By the time they reached the elevator, not even 300 feet away from the front entrance, they were already humming a duet from the musical _RENT_ _,_ swaying softly.

Peter's mood was significantly better than when they had first left the Compound. He was glad Wade suggested spending the day at their apartment. The whole day was filled with musicals, chinese takeout, pizza, running commentary, and cuddling on their very very worn couch.

One thing they hadn't counted on at the beginning of their relationship was their shared love of theatre. Peter adored classic musicals and had even taken ballet lessons as a child, while Wade enjoyed more modern theatre. It became one of their things to watch musicals (Peter liked filmed versions while Wade precurred bootlegs with means Peter wasn't aware of) during the night, making commentary and discussing which characters belonged in which Harry Potter house.

After 20 minutes of arguing, they agreed on a compromise. One classic, then one modern, then one they both wanted to see since they didn't have that much time. They managed to get through The King and I, RENT, and a bootleg of the Spongebob musical that had both of them in tears (happy or sad? maybe both, the world will never know)

It had managed to take his mind off of the shit going on in his life for a few hours, for which he was grateful. It all came back the second the elevator doors opened and they saw Clint fucking Barton standing in the middle of his living room.

\-----

Steve sat in his seat, pointedly ignoring the glares being sent his way. The air in the meeting room was thick was tension, a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.

His team sat on one side of the table, glaring at the new Avengers who outnumbered them on the other side. They all looked like...interesting people. They were all different ages, dressed in various clothing, from regular pants and pullover sweaters to full suits of armor. Steve found himself studying one man at the far end of the table in a full red and black suit, not letting any skin show. Even though Steve couldn't see his mouth moving, his expressive hand gestures made it clear he was conversing to the person next to him, a teenage boy who looked shaken and skittery. The man seemed to sense he was being watched and turned in Steve's direction. Even without visible facial expressions, the implication was clear and Steve nodded his head in apologies and looked away.

If anything, he was trying to be respectful to his new teammates. He had _tried_ to get his team to be respectful, but any and all decency went out the window the second they entered the conference room.

For the past 10 minutes, people he didn't know wandered into the room, taking their apparently designated seats. The smiles on their faces were genuine, but each and every one soured the second their eyes landed on them.

 

Steve couldn't help but think that Tony had something to do with it.

 

Finally the last person walked in. To say he didn't exactly look like an Avenger to Steve was an understatement. It was a young man wearing cargo pants, a grease stained tank-top, and welding glasses on top his head, holding back his mussed up brown hair. He couldn't have been older than 20. When he took a seat, Tony threw a handkerchief at him. The implication was clear as the man's face was covered in black stains, the only part spared being around his eyes. He rolled his eyes with a "Thank you, Dad," and proceeded to wipe at his face.

Steve furrowed his brows, turning to his team to see they all had noticed the word choice as well.

"Does Stark have a son?" Wanda whispered, staring at Tony and then at the boy over and over again. There was no resemblance between the two, but Steve knew of Tony's reputation before becoming an Avenger. The possibility of him having a child were not exactly low.

"He does," Clint responded, his bewilderment evident on his face. "But...that's not the kid I met."

Before he could elaborate on the situation, Rhodey stood up, ceasing all talking and side conversations in the room. As he walked up to the front of the room, Steve hardly noticed his slight slimp. When he did, he was impressed. Even paralyzed, the man knew how to comandeer a room and a group of men. Rhodey's accident was one of the few regrets Steve had about their falling out.

"This is your first meeting as one unified team of Avengers," he started, addressing everyone at the table. "I wish I could start this meeting off with a welcome back, but I will not. In the past two hours alone, a rule has already been broken by one of our reinstated Avengers."

Then, Rhodey _did_ turn to them, cold and expressionless. "I explicitly told you to not wander into restricted areas, and one of you completely disregarded my order. This will not be tolerated any more, and any more deliberate breaking of policies will end in terminating your stay with us. Now, before we begin, I will let those you don't know introduce themselves."

No one moved a muscle. Not Steve's team, nor the other.

The silence seemed to last an eternity, though he knew it couldn't have been longer than five seconds. Just as the silence was becoming unbearable, the man Steve had been studying before gave a loud, annoyed groan before banging his head on the table, making everyone jump.

"Ok, since you dick-for-brains ain't stepping up, _I_ will go first," He said, waving his hand. Even from a distance, Steve could see Tony rolled his eyes, maybe a bit too noticeably, and his team all started sniggering. Apparently he didn't hide the fact that he didn't like the man in the suit very well.

"Hi, I'm Deadpool," he said as if speaking to children. " I'm an ex-X-Men, ex-Special Service, ex-sometimes-still-am mercenery, and I will not hesitate in unaliving any of you if you piss me off."

With that, he sat down and caught sight of Clint glaring at him. Before Steve could question Clint or tell him to stop, Deadpool made an exaggerated gasp and flipped Clint off, leading to even louder sniggering from several people on his side of the table.

"Deadpool, we've talk about this," Rhodey said, more amused than anything. "You can't kill anyone while you're working with--"

"Woahwoahwoahwoah," Deadpool interrupted, holding up his hands. "I never said anything about killing people!"

Tony's team errupted into laughter, save for Rhodey who just rolled his eyes. Steve saw Tony roll his eyes but begin to laugh alongside them when the man next to him tried to contain his own laughter.

"Can we please move on?" Sam interrupted, annoyance ringing his voice.

Forcing down their laughter, the other team introduced themselves.

"I'm America Chavez," a young Latin woman said, waving a hand at, seeming friendly enough. "I go by Miss America, which I hope won't be a problem." As she said this, she looked at Steve.

"Why would I find a problem with that?" Steve asked, making eye contact with America.

"Most Caucasian men take issue with a brown woman taking on the title of America," she said, explaining it as if she went over this conversation daily.

_Oh. She's_ _dealing with racism._

"It's your name," Steve said softly. "If those men you talk about have a problem with an immigrant representing the United States, they should have a problem with me as well. We're both immigrants, America, I can assure you it won't be an issue with anyone on my team."

Her lip twitched in what could be considered a smile, and tilted her head towards him. "Aye aye, Captain."

The boy next to America glanced across the room, seeming bored. There was no way he was a full-fledged Avenger yet, obviously younger than 16 years old. Tony was reckless, but he would never put a kid in danger. "Miles Morales," was all he said. "Don't get used to seeing me. I'm only here for meetings and missions."

"Miles, don't be so rude," one of the women chastised. She had long brown hair tied back into a low tail and was wearing a suit that seemed eerily similar to Scott's. She turned to all of them, eyes narrowing when she looked at Scott but moving on quickly.  "Hope van Dyne. I have been nominated to  co-lead the Avengers Initiative alongside Colonel Rhodes. I hope we can begin to work as teammates, but I warn you. You all answer to me and Rhodey. Neither one of us will not tolerate any insubordination. Is that understood?"

Steve nodded at her, his team slowly following his lead. He already liked this woman and her way of taking initiative. "I like this woman," he heard Natasha say near him and Clint's grunt in response. He was glad that they finally found at least one person they didn't hate.

"Dr. Stephen Strange," the man next to Tony said, not even attempting to hide his disdain. He seemed pretentious and immediately rubbed Steve the wrong way. Something about the way he sat so closely to Tony didn't sit well with Steve.

"Doctor?" Clint snorted. "Who uses that as an alias anymore?"

More than half of them sucked in a breath, and Steve knew then that this was something brought up quite a bit. It was obvious Stephen was trying to not roll his eyes while looking at Clint. "I'll have you know, I'm a world-renowned neurosurgeon who happens to be incapacitated at the moment. But yes. My extremely strenuous years of medical school and residency were all just for a 'cool' alias, Mr. _Hawkeye._ "

"I apologize for my teammate," Steve said, gaze wavering slightly under the man's piercing glare. "I'm sorry if we've offended you."

The man said nothing, only continued to glare.  Settle down, Strange," another man said, not even looking at them, instead looking at the wall behind them. "I'm Matthew Murdock, or just Matt.  I'm here as a representation for the Defenders as they were unable to make it."

"The Defenders?" Sam asked, and all of them exchanged glances. If there were new players in the game, they weren't made aware of it. "Who are the Defenders?"

Matt smiled, a small one that made him look much more relaxed and it put Steve at ease.  "Think of us as a smaller, more unknown New York based group of... silent heroes. We help the Avengers when we can."

"Vigilantes?" Wanda asked, and Matthew nodded at her. Steve recoiled a little, and he could see that Natasha did, though far more subtlety than he did. Neither of them trusted vigilantes. They were usually lawless murderers who followed their own agendas.

"I know what you're thinking," Matthew said, turning his head in their direction, but still looking past them. "I'm not a murderer. I've vowed to never kill anyone, my Catholicism won't let me. I only protect my city, during the night and the day."

"During the day?" Natasha asked, her analysing face on. Steve had learned to realize when the spy was trying to pick someone apart physiologically. "How does that work?"

"I'm a lawyer," Matthew said, pride seeping into his words. "Defense attorney, actually. My partner and I have a legal firm. And so I reiterate, I protect my city both during the day and night."

Steve was impressed. It was hard to balance a superhero life and an average civilian life, he gathered. It would be a strain on anybody.

Wanda squinted her eyes at the man. "But, how can you be a vigilante if you are blind?"

 

His smile disappeared.

 

The room went silent, the only noise being Deadpool loudly sipping out of a cup with a label that read " _TEA"_ on it. Steve looked at Matthew again, realizing that he wasn't just staring off into space as he originally thought.

"Am I the only to have noticed?" Wanda asked aloud. "I thought it was obvious."

"I can't exactly hide it, Ms. Maximoff," Matthew said, a harsh tone coming out, turning his head to face her direction. "It isnt holding me back from protecting my city, either."

"But... you can't see," Sam said, speaking hesitantly. "How are you _able_ to fight?"

"I assure you, Mr. Wilson there are other ways to see. I don't relay on vision, but rather my other senses."

"Are you saying your hearing is enhanced?" Steve asked, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table. Was it possible that this man was a mutant? It was a logical explanation for it.

"In simple terms, yes. My hearing is enhanced, but thats not all. I can sense positioning of items, temperature, drops in pressure, heartbeats, illnesses, and a lot more. In fact..." For a moment, he paused, turning his face away from them. "All of your heartbeats are faster than normal, meaning all of you have things you feel the need to say. Five of you want to apologize, while three of you want to gloat. There's an uneaten apple in front of Deadpool which I'm assuming Peter brought as Deadpool never eats in front of people, the heavy stench of grease and oil makes it obvious that Harley was working on Tony's 1933 Rolls Royce probably under it's hood, Ms. Maximoff used new shampoo today manufactured in Minnesota and then shipped out of Alabama smelling of... cranberry, peaches, and a hint of vanilla soybean, and Clint Barton...couldn't understand a word I just said because I wasn't facing him." He turned his face to them again. "I'm sorry about that, Clint. I'll make sure to do face you while speaking."

"Holy shit," was all anybody could think as they sat in silence, suddenly in awe and fear of the seemingly harmless lawyer in front of them, but Clint? What did Clint have to do with anything? He turned back to question the man as to what Matt had said but found that Clint had his head bowed, a sign that meant he wouldn't speak no matter how much prompting.

 

He'd have to ask later.

 

"Ok, Matt. I think you freaked them out pretty well," the young man wearing the welding goggles said, smirk gone and only looking deadly serious. "I'm Harley Keener, and I'm training to be the next Iron Man." He had to take a slight pause as Steve sucked in his breath sharply and audibly. Why would Tony be letting his son train as Iron if he wasn't planning on stepping down soon?

" Let me just say it now: I don't like any of you at the moment. You're my teammates, we will work together, but none of you have done anything that earns my respect yet. You'll have to work for it."

"Understood," Steve nodded and he made sure the rest of his team did too, making non-verbal gestures. "But...the next Iron Man? Is that going to be a ... family legacy?"

He berated himself for his word choice as everyone snickered, including his team. Even Harley cracked a smile. "Oh yeah, me and my little brother Peter over there are secretly Starks. Torrid love affairs, you know? Don't talk about it though, that information  can't get leaked to the public."

Steve had no idea if he was joking or not.

Harley winked at him and rested back into his seat, nudging the boy next to him, the one Deadpool had been speaking to earlier. He as well looked nothing like Tony or like Harley, but Steve genuinely didn't know what to believe at this point. The kid looked small, trembling a bit and avoiding any eye contact with anyone.

"I'm Peter."

That was all he said, and even Steve could tell this wasn't how Peter usually acted. It was obvious, even before the people closest to him turned to him, all asking if he was ok and if he needed to leave. Steve couldn't hear the rest of the conversation, they were all turned and focused on Peter, so he turned to his own team.

"I like them," Nat said before Steve could utter a word. "The only ones I don't trust are Deadpool and the Doctor."

Sam nodded. "I'm with Nat on this one. Deadpool looks like the kind of bastard who would stab us in the back for fun, literally and figuratively. And doctor over there looks like a pretentious piece of shit."

"Word of advice," someone said, interrupting their conversion. They all looked up to see Matt raising an eyebrow. "Don't talk shit around the blind guy with advanced hearing."

All attention was back on them. He saw that Peter and Deadpool slipped out sometime during their conversation.

"I'm sorry," he said, inclining his head. "Please continue with the introductions."

"Actually," Rhodey said, "That was everyone, save for two people. Carol Danvers had to step out an hour ago--"

He had to stop midsentence as everyone started wolf-whistling and hollering, making the returned Avengers jump for a second time that meeting. He was surprised to see that instead of chastising them, Rhodey smiled and look flustered. "Ok ok assholes, keep it up!" he shouted over the commotion.  At the reinstated Avengers' looks of confusion, Rhodey's mouth fell open and shut as he tried to speak.

"Carol, she's uh, well you see, me and -- I mean _her_ \--"

"They're engaged!" Harley whooped and the cheering only intensified.

Steve grinned at the man, and his team all began clapping. Rhodey was the only person none of them could ever hate, and after everything that he went through, he deserved to settle down with someone he loved.

"Settle down!" He chuckled and the room quieted down again, though the tension in the room wasn't as thick as it was earlier. "Now, as I was saying, Carol had to step out, so you'll get to meet her at a later time. And the last member is Eddie Brock, but he didn't want to risk anything with... he can explain that when you meet him."

"Now let's begin this meeting."

\-----

Hours later, Tony got into the elevator, pushed the button for floor 21, and walked in to hear a soft piano melody he recognized as _Back in Black_ by ACDC.

He smiled, remembering how Strange was always complaining about Tony's classic rock playing in the elevator. The next day, it had been changed to classic rock songs played on a piano, or sometimes by full orchestras.

Stephen's laugh that day was one of Tony's most cherish memory.

Tony's smile faded as he remembered what he was doing down there in the first place.

His kid had looked pained throughout the whole beginning of the meeting, and he couldn't do anything about it. He wondered who or what hurt Peter, and why. His confusion only grew when Wade Wilson was the one to escort him out and stay with him.

It wasn't unlike Peter to become close to everyone. He had quickly bonded with all his new teammates, glad to have more sparring partners and movie buddies, but Wade Wilson was dangerous. Tony knew the man had changed, he really had, but what would he do to Peter? What if he hurt him?

He decided to check on him. Tony had a _lot_ to make up for, and he guessed now was a good enough time as ever. As the doors opened, a soft song was playing that Tony couldn't put his finger on.

_"So this is love...mmm."_

The song was coming from Peter's bedroom, and it took Tony a moment to recognize it. Over the summer, Peter had coerced him to have a full Disney marathon which lasted 3 days. He was suprised that he hadn't realized it was Cinderella earlier.

He walked over and took in a shaky breath before knocking softly on the door. "Pete? You in there, kid?"

No answer.

Thinking _why not_ he opened the door and saw Peter asleep on his bed, wearing an oversized shirt and iron man pajama pants.

Deadpool was right behind him.

Tony had to physically clasp a hand over his mouth to not gasp (or start yelling) at the sight of a shirtless, maskless Wade Wilson sleeping behind his son.

It was the first time he saw any of Wade's skin and he couldn't stop from looking at the scarred, disfigured scars that covered all of him. Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Tony looked away. There was a reason Deadpool was always wearing his suit, and now he knew why. He didn't like Wade, but the man deserved privacy.

Then he saw their positioning. The two of them were sitting up, backs against Peter's headboard, Wade's head leaning into Peter's shoulder. He was hugging Peter from behind and Tony could tell the position wasn't comfortable, but his face showed no sign of discomfort. The movie was extremely loud and the stack of DVDs at the foot of Peter's bed made it obvious they had been watching movies together for so long that the volume didn't bother them.

In fact, both of them had smiles on their faces.

Tony did a quick scan of the room and saw multiple photos pinned on Peter's wall of the two of them. One selfie in particular showed Peter kissing Wade's cheek, masks off, a sunset in distance.

It all clicked.

Peter and Wade were dating.

He...he didn't know what to think. Part of him wanted to push them apart, to protect Peter, but a larger, more reasonable part knew that he should trust Peter to make his own decisions and own mistakes.

For a moment, he stood there in the doorway, watching as Cinderella danced and sang in the arms of her prince, gaze full of love that never should have existed .

Slowly, Tony backed away, closed the door and had to pause for a moment.

They could talk about this later. Peter would talk about this when he was ready, Tony was sure.

 

He only hoped Peter knew what he was doing. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so a lot of things happen/are mentioned in this chapter that will be touched upon later, I promise it's not lazy writing lol. 
> 
> Thank you guys for sticking through this long and thank you guys for being patient! 
> 
> Remember to give kudos and drop some comments and suggestions! Thanks for reading <3


	5. Chapter 5

Tony happily breathed in the aroma of his coffee, smiling as he held his first _genuine_ cup of coffee in a month. Rhodey had DUM-E take away the coffee machine in his room while he was asleep, which only resulted in DUM-E dropping it (shattering it of course) and scaring the shit out of Tony. Since then, he had been stuck with water bottles.

He was sitting at a table for two at a diner in Queens, a place he liked and frequented. Out of sight from main roads, but with enough foot traffic surrounding it that it was never empty. He knew all the employees by name so it wasn't much of a surprise to them when he ate there. When he walked in, he saw his regular table in what could be considered a breakfast nook was empty. Walking over to it, he sat down with his back to the door so no one walking in could see his face.

Peter Parker sat right across from him, sipping a strawberry milkshake and looking _anywhere_ but at Tony. Sure, the diner was decorate nicely, but he knew Peter wasn't that interested in interior design. He was very much reminded of the first time they went into the city for lunch, all those months ago. Peter had been just as quiet and awkward then as he was being at that moment.

The last fifteen minutes had gone without any verbal communication, which was odd. Tony was used to the loud, dorky, spontaneous Peter who could and would begin talking at any time without any prompting. Tony had almost forgotten just how awkward the boy could get in any social situation.

Oh well. Tony had been the one to initiate conversation then, he would do it again now.

"So," he said, clearing his throat.  "Peter, w--"

"I'm bisexual!" The kid interrupted, physically clapping a hand over his mouth the second the words were out of his mouth. "Shit, that wasn't supposed to-- _shoot, I meant shoot--"_

As Peter began rattling off apologizes for his vulgarity, Tony had to think for a minute.

_Did Peter not tell me this already?_

Rattling his brain for a second, Tony realized that no, Peter had never told him anything about his sexual orientation. He must have just assumed that he wasn't straight due to all the talks they had over LGBTQ+ rights. That wasn't fair, but now that he knew Peter was involved with Wade Wilson, he just never bothered to wonder if his intern had outright said anything.

After a few seconds, he realized that Peter was still apologizing. Wanting to let the poor kid out of his misery, Tony raised a hand, effectively getting his intern to stop speaking.

"Take a deep breath," he instructed, using his 'I'm-in-front-of-a-wild-animal-that-might-charge-at-any-second-so-I-have-to-speak-softly-and-slowly" voice, one he hadn't had to use since he became Iron Man. "Relax, and you can try that again, ok?"

Visibly tense, Peter nodded, tapping his fingers on the table as he took in deep breaths. Letting Peter get adjusted, Tony studied everything outside the window. It wasn't much, just a run down park on the other side of the street with a small child and her mother on the slide, but he didn't want to risk looking behind him into the diner. People knew who Tony Stark was (duh) and would go batshit crazy if they saw him. Not that he couldn't handle it. He had been dealing with paparazzi for years thanks to Howard using his achievements as publicity stunts ever since he built his first circuit board. 

But Peter was with him. There was no way the kid would react well to hoardes of people at a time screaming questions at him or shoving bright and flashy cameras at him at any time of the day.  If people found out he was close to Tony, his life would constantly be recordered, photographed, stalked, maybe even put in more danger. Someone could figure out he was Spiderman. Tony would try to shield Peter from all that as long as he could.

His son deserved better than that.

Tony jolted back in his seat the second the thought formed, surprising himself. Did he just refer to Peter as his _son?_ Before he could dwell on the realization that _yes he did consider Peter Benjamin Parker his son,_ Peter spoke.

"I...I'm bi. Bisexual, I mean. I've known this about myself for years, before I figured out I was trans actually. Sorry I, uh, didn't tell you earlier."

Tony looked at the boy, _really_ looked at him. He was trembling from head to toe, though he was attempting to hide it. The kid was scared.

"Peter," he said, and the boy froze up. God, how badly had people reacted before? "You have no reason to apologize. Coming out is a difficult thing to do, and you have no obligation to tell anyone. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me. I have to ask...why the sudden confession?"

"Oh," Peter said, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, yesterday, it kind of hit me that the Rogues don't know me. As Peter Parker or as _the other dude._ They don't know anything about me, and I want to keep it that way. But then I realized the only person who deserves to know anything about is you."

 _Goddamnit, Peter_ , Tony thought willing himself to not cry. This kid was going to be the death of him.

"Thank you for telling me, Pete. I'm proud of you."

Just like that, it was as if a switch had been flipped inside Peter. The terrified look on his face was quickly replaced with his trademark goofy grin, eyes literally sparkling.

_There's my kid._

"Oh thank God," Peter said, speaking at about 6 words per second in true Peter Parker fashion. "I was terrified you'd be disapproving, which is stupid I know, but..."

It was as if their outings had never stopped, with Peter rapidly speaking and Tony trying his best to listen and chime in whenever he could. Their conversation flowed so naturally that Tony didn't even notice when they switched topics. Well, not until the conversation took a turn.

"And now MJ and Ned are still bugging me and asking if I'm dating and its not like I wouldn't tell them and all that but--"

"Well are you?" Tony asked, watching in delight as Peter looked disgusted as he chewed on a french fry with his mouth open. "You're a nice kid, you can't tell me no one's interested in you."

Just like he would never pressure him to come out, Tony would never pressure Peter to tell him about Wade, though he _was_ surprised. He honestly thought Peter would be _bursting_ to tell him about Wade. Now that he knew the kid wasn't single (which he was still trying to accept without going to strangle Deadpool at any time) some light fatherly teasing and questioning wouldn't hurt anyone.

"D-Dating?" Peter squeaked, face turning red. "No?"

"Why does that sound more like a question than an answer?" Tony laughed, bringing his cup up to his lips.

Peter looked at him, cocking up an eyebrow. "How 'bout this: we can talk about my love life as soon as you man up and ask out the witch doctor."

If asked, Tony would deny the fact that he choked on his coffee, spilling some all over his extremely tie.

" _Shit,"_ he cursed, grabbing some napkins and patting his suit as Peter laughed his head off. Was that little shit taking _photos?_ Sure enough, Peter had taken his phone out and tapped his screen. He could only hope that he wasn't taking a video.

"I hate you," Tony said with no malice in his voice, pointing at Peter which only made the kid laugh harder.

Did he really know about his interest in Stephen? Was he just _that_ obvious? Tony didn't know and that was concerning.

As he rolled his eyes, Peter put his phone down, watching what Tony now knew was a video. Damn it, now that video would be sent to everyone and screen shots would be printed out. Before he could chastise him, his phone rang.

Sighing, he considered ignoring it. He was only now getting his relationship with Peter back in order. Whoever was calling could wait an hour or two. Then _Peter's_ phone rang, and the two of them shared a look before grabbing their coats.

They only time both of their phones rang was when an emergency was going on at the Compound.

"Talk to me, Parker," Tony said as he threw two 100 dollar bills on the table along with a hastily written note ' _Keep the change - T.S.'_

Peter held his phone up to his ear, listening as he tugged on his jacket. He looked up at Tony with wide eyes as soon as he hung up. "It was Rhodey. He called to tell us Eddie and Wade came back from patrol. Wade's hurt. Bad."

Not letting Tony say anything, Peter rushed out of the diner, forcing him to run after him.

"Is that Tony Stark?!" He heard one of the patrons ask but he didn't have time to stop. As the two ran outside the door, Peter pulled out his phone again. "Shit! I have to send Miles to Eddie's place!"

"What?" Tony asked as he ran alongside Peter down the streets of Queens. _Holy shit I'm old,_ he thought to himself as he forced himself to run alongside the hyperactive teenager. The second this was done, he'd find a running buddy and get himself back into shape.

"Someone has to babysit their kids!" Peter yelled back, turning into an alley.

_Wait, Eddie has kids? Since when?_

Tony was about to voice his question when Peter kicked a dumpster so hard it flew at least ten feet before landing. Tony jolted back, forgetting for a moment that Peter could lift two elephants if he ever wanted to, he was that strong. The teen reached into a deep hole that had been directly under the dumpster and pulled out a dirty blue backpack. Reaching in, he pulled out his Spiderman mask.

Only then did he pause and looked at Tony. "I have to change into my suit, but you go ahead. I'll meet you at the Compound."

Not even letting Tony speak, the boy took off again, leaving the billionaire alone in an alley.

"Damn it," he said, letting his nanotech suit cover his body. He was having such a nice day before this shit happened.

" _Hello sir,"_ FRIDAY greeted as his face plate locked into place. "Hey baby girl," He responded. "Let's hurry home ok?"

" _You're the boss, Boss."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so i think I've decided that I'll update more often, just with shorter chapters. 
> 
> Well, not really "shorter" chapters per say, but my writing style consists of having multiple scenes in one chapter. I'm just going to start limiting myself to one or two scenes per chapter. Less time it takes to write and edit so that means quicker updates! 
> 
> Its Thanksgiving for me, and I'm so very thankful for each and every one of you. Have a blessed day. 
> 
> (Dont forget to comment!! comment down any lines or scenes you'd like incorporated into the fic, and I'll do my best to write it in)
> 
> (Also, someone asked if I'm ok with fanart and yes! Totally! Draw all the fan art you want with this fic! Just comment your social media platform (I'm not exactly comfortable giving my own out just yet) and I will definitely look at them!!)


	6. Chapter 6

Steve sighed into his hands and he felt Bucky lay a hand on his back, reassuring him.

For a moment, they weren't themselves; instead they were two 16 year old kids in the slums of Brooklyn, sleeping pressed together to preserve heat (or so they told themselves.) No matter what Steve went through, whether it be a horrible coughing fit or sitting at the small table in their kitchen wondering how they could stretch their last few dollars, Bucky's reassuring hand on his back was always there. They were calloused from years of working hard jobs whereas Steve's were baby smooth. It was always a stark contrast when their palms pressed together as their bodies came together, swaying in time to the faint music the family upstairs would play.

"How did I never notice before, Buck?" He asked, and the wave of guilt that racked through was almost too much to bear.

He had talked to Clint, finally, but he hadn't expected his confession. After all these years of knowing the man, he had never picked up on it or even suspected it. What kind of a team leader was he?

"Know what?" A tired voice asked, and both men looked up to see a barely woken up Scott Lang leaning on the door frame to their room.

Steve was almost jealous of how the man was a late riser. No matter what how early or late he went to sleep, Scott wouldn't be up before noon. That was a luxury that the old Steve would have loved, but the military and years of early jobs had forced a habit of waking at dawn.

"Nothing," Steve quickly replied, but the man only frowned.

"This 'bout Clint?" He asked, concern washing over his features. Steve's silence was the only answer Scott needed.

Though he was undoubtedly the newest member of Cap's team and didn't share the same bond everyone else shared, that came with an advantage. They would come to him with any news they couldn't tell anyone else. Somehow, he had become something akin to their... Grandmother?

He couldn't wait to tell all of this to Cassie the next time he could talk to her. He'd have to talk to Stark about going to see her sometime, he missed his kid.

"Cap, you couldn't have known Clint was deaf." Scott yawned, trying to sound reassuring. "He hides it _really_ well," he mumbled the last part, and looked up to see a look of shock on Steve's face.

"How did you know that?" The man asked, brows burrowing like they always did when he was disappointed in something.

Oh crap. He had forgotten that Clint's situation wasn't common knowledge. Oh shit shit shit shit. Scott shrugged awkwardly, suddenly really interested in his Ant-themed pajama pants. "It was, uh, just a suspicion of mine?"

"I just kind of noticed Clint jumps if someone touches him from behind or if he can't see them. Thought it was just a bad experience with physical contact, or something. After that, I realized that Clint makes direct eye contact whenever speaking to someone, watching like a hawk, get it?"

Neither Bucky or Steve appreciated his joke, so he coughed to mask his laughter and continued.

"I started getting suspicious, but then I saw him signing to Nat. I only got the end of the conversation, but it was definitely ASL. There were some complications with Cassie, possibility of her being born deaf, so I learned some sign language just in case..."

He trailed off, not sure how to end that sentence. The two super soldiers looked at him before glancing at each other, having a conversation with their eyes. Scott was almost jealous of how close the two men were and how he didn't have that bond with anyone, but he knew better.

Steve and Bucky's friendship had been through so much. Life during the depression had always seemed horrible to Scott but listening to Steve's recollections of it made the stories in school look like a picnic. Then the stories about the war, about how they were each other's world until they were ripped apart. Skip a few decades and discovering the other half was still alive and doing everything in their power to stay together?

 

 

There was no doubt in Scott's mind that the two were soulmates, platonic or otherwise.

 

 

Opening his mouth to reply somehow, he was immediately cut off by a loud alarm blaring to life, shocking everyone in the room and the present hallway.

 

 _"_ _Warning,"_ FRIDAYs voice came through the intercoms. " _Venom has been let loose in the_ _West Wing Communal Area. Colonel Rhodes has advised you to stay in--"_

 

Scott didn't even get to hear the end of the sentence before Steve and Bucky ran passed him and out into the hallway. Before he could even blink, the doors to the other rooms slammed open. It took less than 2 seconds for the whole team to run after Cap, disappearing down the hallway.

"Damn it," Scott rolled his eyes before leisurely strolling in the direction he thinks he saw his team go.

He didn't know what a "Venom" was but whatever it was?

 

 

It was _not_ worth running before his morning coffee.

 

\-----

  
Well this was just fucking _great._

Ok so maybe it wasn't the best idea to do his patrol with the man who literally had a fucking man-eating alien in his stomach, but you can't blame Wade for that!

Ok yeah, you _can,_ but still.

Wade knew that Eddie liked him. Wade thought and hoped that Venom liked him, or at least _tolerated_ him! How was he supposed to know that Venom would take a bit of his, oh I don't know, _whole ass body?!_

As he looked down at his missing legs and partial torso, he made a mental note to never get in front of Venom's mouth.

At least Petey-pie would be proud of him. The only reason he had even gotten _near_ Venom's jaw was because they were about to chomp down on some low-life drug dealer.

Months ago, Wade would have let the dude die, hell he probably would have finished the job! But ever since Peter came into his life, he hadnt been unliving people as often.

He didn't know what Peter was doing to him, but _damn it was not helping him in this situation._

The last thing that Wade remembered was being lifted by a huge ass black mass before slowly drifting off into unconsciousness.

 

\-----

 

 

Tony would worry about the window he just crashed through later, taking in the scene in front of him.

 

The Rogues were attempting to fight Venom, who was craddling what looked to be a badly injured and very bloody Deadpool. His legs were missing and so was the majority of his torso. Tony could see blood _everywhere_ and couldn't imagine how painful whatever happened had been.

Cap' was throwing his shield while Wanda was launching large pieces of furniture towards Venom. The others were launching their own weapons at Venom from various angles. Wilson was on the ground, knocked out. It didn't take a genius (which Tony was) to figure out immediately that Venom had knocked him out of the air. Their attacks were futile as everything bounced off the symbiote, only making them angrier. Tony saw Rhodey screaming at them to stop, but no one could (or would) listen to him over the commotion being made.

 

Crashing through the window _did_ get their attention.

 

Caught off guard, they didn't notice Venom raising their huge hand. The symbiote back-handed them, sending Cap, Barnes, Wanda, and Barton flying into the wall behind them. Using the distraction, Rhodey let his own nanotech suit cover him, immediately activating the thrusters and flying towards them.

"Stand down!" He commanded, raising his hands in the universal 'dont-you-dare-get-up' sign. As he hovered a few feet above the rogues and the few ones still standing, Tony flew over to Venom.

The symbiote raised their hand as if to give another blow, but stopped as they recognized Tony's suit.

" _ **Pool is injured**_ **.** " The symbiote said, almost sounding apologetic.

"I, uh, can see that," Tony said, lifting his hands slowly. He had witnessed how tempermental the symbiote could get and didnt want to do anything to set them off.  "But he's going to be okay. You just have to put him down. He's going to be ok."

The symbiote hesitated. For a second, one horrible second, Tony thought they wouldn't put the ex-mercenary down.

 

" ** _Tell the Spider we are sorry_** **."**

 

In all his years, Tony never would have expected such a huge, terrifying thing like Venom to put down Wade Wilson's body as gently as they did. The second Deadpool was safely on the floor, the symbiote shrunk into themself until a man was standing in their place.

"What the _actual hell, V!?"_ Eddie Brock yelled the second he was able to.

" _ **Did not know Pool would jump in front of us, Eddie."**_

"That doesn't excuse anything, you fucking _parasite!"_

 **"** _ **We are**_ **not** _ **a parasite!"**_ The symbiote roared. Venom's head had materialised onto his shoulder, teeth digging into his neck hard enough to draw blood.

" _You fucking son-of-a-"_

Before he could finish his sentence, something whizzed past his head, mere inches away from his face. Eddie looked up to see Tony Stark's thruster staring him in the face.

"Dude, stop," he said, looking more tired than anything. "You're making yourself look bad in front of _them._ " Tony jerked his head in the direction of the old Avengers, who were staring at him as if he had two heads.

Well, in all fairness, he _did._

He took in their shocked expressions and looked around at the lounge completely destroyed by them trying to fight his love. Well hell. This was _exactly_ what he had been trying to avoid.

"Um...hi. We haven't met have we?" He said, rubbing the back of his neck and finding that one of  Venom's tendrils had wrapped around his fingers, their fight over as quickly as it had started. Almost all of their arguments were short nowadays, the last one concerning whether or not their youngest child Sleeper was ready to attend pre-school or not.

" ** _Carnage and Lasher were already in school by his age, Eddie,"_** Venom had argued.

" _Sleeper is a slower learner! Remember how the other kids made fun of Phage when she wasn't as quick as the other kids? I don't want that to happen to Sleeper!"_

How his life had gone from regular reporter to reporter/Avenger, husband of one symbiote and father to six _other_ symbiotes, Eddie had _no_ idea.

"I'm Eddie." He chirped, not sure how to do anything in the situation. 

 

"W-What _are_ you?" Wanda Maximoff asked, eyes wide in fear and...disgust.

Eddie felt his love grow over him, encasing everything but his face.

 

"We...we're Venom."

 

\-----

 

 

It was around 10 when Tony got the text from Peter. He had been getting ready for bed since he was tired out of his mind. It had taken nearly an hour for Rhodey to stop yelling at the Rogues, and then they had to make sure Sam Wilson was ok and that nobody had been too badly injured in the fight. That lobby wouldn't be accessible for at least a month, and he had been the one to break it to Hope that her favorite chair had been thrown and broken in the fight.

 

All in all, Tony had had a super tiring day.

 

Received: _Wade's up. He's healing, but he's still making dumb jokes so he'll be ok._

Tony looked down at his phone and smiled, thinking about how worried Peter had been when he rushed into the compound and demanded Wade be moved to the infirmary in the compound. Thank god Wade was back to being himself, for Peter's sake.

Sent: _Thanks for the update. Get some sleep kid._

He put his phone down and settled into his bed, but he later found he couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried.

 _11:57 p.m._ the clock on the wall read. Tony sighed, throwing a pillow over his mouth and nearly screamed. Something Peter had said at the diner was nagging at his mind.

 

_We can talk about my love life as soon as you man up and ask out the witch doctor_

 

Before he even knew what he was doing, he was grabbing his phone off the counter and typing a message.

 

Sent: _Hey_ , _sorry it's late, just had a question. How would you feel about going on a run with me in the morning? Maybe some breakfast afterwards?_

 

Before he could delete it, he pushed the send button and slammed the phone back onto the bedside table.

What the hell did he just do?! He just asked out Stephen Strange, the goddamn _Sorceror Supreme,_ for a morning run and _breakfast._

God he was an idiot. A stupid, idiotic, waste of a --

His phone buzzed not even 10 seconds later and he dove straight for it, opening the latest message.

 

Received: _I'm sure I can make time in my schedule. Does 7 work for you?_

 

Tony didn't even bother to fight the growing smile on his face.

 

Sent: _7 sounds great ;)_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive!! Im so sorry my loves, life has just been super hectic lately due to finals and new projects im trying to write (if you're a Newsies fan, keep an out eye out ;) ) 
> 
> Some quick notes: 
> 
> Two of y'all's most asked for characters finally came around! Yay!
> 
> Do I think Scott Lang would learn a whole ass language for his daughter? Yes? 
> 
> Yes, I wrote Clint's deafness into this fic but keep in mind i will NOT be going easy on his character. A lot of people who write in Deaf!Clint are "oh hes a smol precious deaf child who can do no wrong!!!" Im more of a "his disability does not decide whether or not he makes good moral decisions??" writer. 
> 
> Eddie and Venom are married in every sense of the word so h a 
> 
> Ok. When I started writing we had NO IDEA about Infinity War pt2 but now we have a name, trailer, and a lot of theories. I have no idea if this will be done before Endgame gets released, so I have no idea if this fic is ANYWHERE NEAR canon stuff you know? If you are reading this in the future (say like after Endgame releases) keep that in mind please. 
> 
> IRONSTRANGE IS UNDER WAY YESSSSSSSS
> 
> I have a headcanon that Miles (I still haven't seen into the Spiderverse yet so i dont really know the MCU version of him yet but I've always loved him as a character) babysits Eddie and Venom's kids (yes those little hell spawns are his children, fite me) but it won't really be touched on in here, sorry. 
> 
> I'm a whore for comments so comment away! Give me lines you want me to incorporate into this fic!!! 
> 
> Thank you for reading and im so sorry for the wait!


	7. Chapter 7

 

Stephen looked resigned and just about ready to jump off the Chrysler building as he calmly put down his cup of tea. "Peter," He said, making Tony smile at the exasperation seeping through on just that one word. "I know for a _fact_ that there is no such thing as _big dick ener--"_

  
"That's what _you_ say Doctor Man!" The teenager in question interrupted, a childish pout on his face. He took another bite of his pasta before continuing. " _I_ know for a fact that Mr. Stark _invented_ big dick energy!"

Tony managed to hide his smile in his coffee cup whereas Rhodey just dropped his head into his hands, groaning.

Two weeks into the new routine and Tony was finding out that Mondays were easily becoming his favorite days. Mainly because he got to spend time with his favorite wizard.

His and Stephen's first run had gone extremely well, their usual banter and subtle flirtation only intensifying as they ran side-by-side through the park they met at. The breakfast that followed was equally as fun, if not more when Tony made Stephen laugh so hard he snorted tea out of his nose. But then the second time, it was kind of lonely, kind of quiet. Tony had been the one to think it but hadn't spoken. He thought it'd be rude to ask.  Stephen , however, had apparently had the same thought as he had been the one to propose it a few minutes later.

Soon, their run was filled with laughter again as they ran alongside a hyperactive 18 year old, happy to be included. It was damaging to both their egos that they were being outrun by Peter, but Tony just had to keep reminding himself that he had superpowers.

Still hurt, though.

After that, it became routine. Peter, Tony, and Stephen would meet up at six in the morning for a run and then they'd meet with Rhodey at a nearby diner for breakfast at seven. Tony felt he had been neglecting his friendship with Rhodes and tried to make it up to him. They'd spend an hour eating, laughing, and bantering before Tony sent Peter off to school. More often than not, Rhodey left afterwards, leaving Tony and Stephen to flirt through the rest of breakfast.

Still taking Peter out to eat everyday, it quickly became a welcome addition to Tony's routine. He was glad he was able to spend time with all his favorite

Today though, Stark Inc. had a meeting in the morning, so the four of them decided to wait til the afternoon and just use the gym at the compound (for once.) Heating up some leftover pasta he made the night before, Tony sat all of them down at the kitchen table.

"I agree with Pete on this," Tony said, making sure to grin as he made eye contact with Stephen, eliciting a victorious yelp from his mentee and a groan from his friend.

"Ha! Told you so!" The kid yelled, throwing his hands into the air. Stephen rolled his eyes before smiling at the kid. "Dont you have homework to be doing?"

Rhodey and Tony snorted as the smile was wiped off of Peter's face, replaced with a look of faint horror. The kid was always complaining about how school was horrible and the work load was killing him."...yeah," he muttered, slowly getting up from the table.

"If you need any help, call me down," Tony said, winking at the kid and making him smile.

"I will and thanks for the pasta, Mr. Stark!" He said, grabbing his plate and putting it into the dishwasher. "You have _got_ to teach me how to make it! I love May, but maybe I should do the cooking when I'm with her."

Tony laughed, knowing well that May lacked in the culinary department. "Maybe I will, squirt. Make sure your homework's done before going on patrol, ok?"

Peter nodded, rolling his eyes at the last bit, before walking off to the elevator.

"Tony, did you...make this?" Stephen asked when Tony turned around again, a tone of awe in his voice. 

Years ago, when Tony had been just "Tonio", his most cherished memories were when Howard was out of town and Maria would let him help cook dinner. Pasta was made and recipes were passed down. They had servants, a lot of them, but dinner was always a special occasion for just the two of them and Aunt Peggy.

"Yeah, I did. _Old_ Stark recipe." He replied, ignoring the emotions welling up in his stomach.

Strange was, arguably, surprised. Tony seemed like the type of person to pay someone else to do everything, but the more time they spent together, the more Stephen was learning that Tony wasn't what he expected. That he was more sentimental than he was letting on. 

"Maybe Tony can make it for you some time."

Both men whipped their heads around to see Rhodey raising an eyebrow and drinking his glass of water.

 _Am I that obvious?_ Stephen thought to himself, hoping his face didn't look as red as he thought it did.

"I mean, I don't see why not," Tony said, suddenly seeing a window in front of him.

_Screw it. An opportunity is an opportunity._

Rhodey was a genius, an asshole, but a genius.

"If you want, I can make dinner for us. Saturday sound good?"

 

\-----

 

 

Steve Rogers had always been the kind of person that never wanted to be too far from his family. From home. After years of hiding, he was finally back home. In New York, in the Compound. For far too long, Tony Stark had kept the Avengers from being the team they could be. It _had_ taken a while, but Steve finally forgave Stark for what he did in Siberia and during the Civil War.

  
But his corruption was keeping them from being the team they were meant to be.

 

He knew that Tony Stark was a charming man who could twist his words to benefit himself, but Steve never thought he'd sink this low out of petty spite.

"I can't believe this," Clint seethed, looking at the papers Vision laid down in front of him. "I'm going-- I'm going to _murder him!"_

 _"_ Clint," Vision said, ever-so calm as Steve held a hand on Clint's shoulder, both grounding him and making sure he wasn't able to hurt himself or anyone else. "Please do not threaten violence against a team membe--"

 _"Team member?!"_ Clint yelled, slamming his hands on the table. "A _team member_ wouldn't speak to my wife and convince her to file _for a fucking divorce!"_

The words cracked through the air like a whip. Each of them stood there, the severity of the situation setting in.

Steve couldn't believe it.

He had been lounging in one of the common rooms with his team, laughing for the first times in weeks when Vision came through the wall, an envelope in his hand.

"This came for you, Clint. The others asked I be the one to deliver it." Vision said, an odd tone in his voice. Steve realized it was the voice he used when dealing with reporters he didn't like.

Wanda had looked heartbroken.

"Clint, I can assure you, Tony did not sway Laura's decision in anyway." Vision said now and Steve nearly shook his head.

How could Vision, someone who had the learning capacity of the world in his mind, defend Tony after all he had done? Steve didn't think it possible.

"How do you know, huh?" Sam challenged, walking right up to Vision until they were nose to nose. "How do you know Stark didn't tell her shit that wasn't even true just to hurt Clint? How? Do? You? Know?" Every question was punctuated with a sharp finger to the chest.

A look of fury passed Vision's face. "Lay a hand on me, _Wilson,"_ he growled, surprising Sam into taking a step back. "And you will regret it."

Stepping back, Vision turned on his heel and headed towards to the door.

"Vis, wait!" Wanda called out, sounding hopeful. Vision stopped under the doorframe before calling out,  
"FRIDAY, play the Compound's footage of the day 92418 at 15:21 hours for the East Wing Corridor," and walking away, not once turning back to face them. He wished he couldn't see the dejected look on Wanda's face.

Steve watched as the lights dimmed and a video played on the tv screen in front of them. Within a second, a long hallway was in front of them with Laura Barton and Tony Stark walking down it. Steve could hear Clint's sharp intake of breathe and heard the broken sob he let out.

 

_God Tony. What have you done._

 

 

" _Laura, please_ ," Tony's voice said as the camera followed the pair. " _Clint is a good man and a good father."_

" _He is,"_ Laura agreed. " _But the Clint on trial right now is not the same Clint I married. He is a good man but... a good man doesn't leave his family with no warning only for us to find out days later he became a terrorist. Do you know how hard that was for me, Tony? To keep us all together without breaking apart? If it hadn't been for your help--"_

" _No, do not thank me. I was doing what any man would do. What Clint would want me to do. He loves you, Laura, he really does_." Tony assured her and Steve blanched at how genuine the words seemed. He was always a good liar.

" _Tony, I love Clint. But I can't go with him when he comes back. Our relationship is too far gone. I have to do this. For my sake and for the kids'. They don't need to go through the pain I went through."_

On-screen Tony nodded and sighed before putting a hand on Laura's shoulder. _"Ok. If this is what you want, I will support you. I always will."_ And the screen went dark.

 

\-----

 

 

"Thanks for watching this with me, Mr. Stark," Peter said through a mouth-full of popcorn as the Brooklyn Nine-Nine theme played on the tv.

Even though they had been spending a _lot_ of time together, Tony felt compelled to sit down in silence when he saw Peter in the common area watching his favorite show.

"Its nothing, kid." Tony said. And it really was nothing. He loved spending time with his kid, and he was becoming fonder of that t.v. show too. "Oh I wanted to tell you something!"

Peter immediately perked up, eyes lighting up. "Ooh, spill that tea sis! Spill!"

"I have absolutely no idea what that means!" Tony replied in the same tone as Peter, gaining a laugh from the boy. "Anyways, I...well, I invited Stephen over this Saturday for dinner."

 

The squeal that left Peter's mouth was inhumane.

 

_"And?!"_

 

 _"And_ he accepted and called it our first date." Tony grinned in true Tony Stark fashion. Bragging and sincere all in one look.

" _Oh my God Mr. Stark why did you wait so long to tell me?!"_ Peter yelled, grabbing a pillow and getting on his knees, wacking him several times. " _I! Should! Have! Been! The first one! To know!"_

Tony laughed as he lifted his hands up in defense. "Alright I give up! Uncle!"

Peter gave him one last good whack before jumping back onto the couch. "Oh gosh now I have the talk with him. But hes a wizard! But I have to, ugh," his face landed in a pillow and his words came out muffled. "Now I have to give the talk to a wizard Mr. Stark."

"The 'talk?'" Tony asked, eyebrow quirking up. "What talk?"

"You know," Peter said, head still buried in the pillow. "The 'if-you-hurt-my-dad-I-will-key-your-car' talk, you know?"

 

Both seemed to realize what he said a few seconds late. Peter jumped up again, face already beet red.

 

"D-Did I say 'dad?' What I _meant_ to say is, uh, is--"

 

" _Stark!"_ A voice roared in anger and Tony jumped.

In a show of good faith, the Rogues hadn't been restricted access to any part of the compound except for his labs and Peter's floor. It was clear now that that was a mistake as he now saw a pissed off Clint Barton marching towards him with a few of his teammates behind him.  Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson, and the person Tony had been avoiding for a month. Steve Rogers.

"Peter go downstairs, _now."_ Tony said, standing up and putting himself between Peter and the Rogues. If this was going to get ugly, he didn't want Peter caught in the crossfire.

"What? No! Whatever's going on, I'm staying with you!" He said, stubborn as ever, standing too. Goddamn it, the one time he truly needed Peter to listen to him.

"Peter," he hissed. "Now is _not_ the time to start--"

"What the hell did you do?!" Clint yelled, making Tony instinctively raise his arm out to keep him away from Peter. He already knew what this was about. The divorce papers had been sent to the Compound earlier that day and he had sent Vision to deliver it. He had seen this coming.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tony lied, speaking slowly and calmly. He knew Clint's temper and knew being aggressive wouldn't help anybody.

"Don't act coy!" Clint snapped.  "You convinced Laura to file for divorce!"

Tony grit his teeth, wishing he was anywhere but here. After the Siberia incident, Tony made sure to check in with the families of the Rogues, namely the Barton family. He found a house in chaos and disarray and a stay-at-home mom who didnt have any idea how ends were going to meet. It took a lot of convincing, but Laura Barton let Tony pay their bills until they were on their feet again. He wasn't happy to hear Laura wanted a divorce, but he knew that he had to support her. "Clint, I didn't do anything."

"Tony," that voice said and he froze, feeling phantom pains in his chest flair up. "That's not true and we know it."

"How about you all back up, right now," Peter said, ducking under Tony's arm and standing in front of Clint. He shoved off Tony's hand when he tried to hold him back, looking up at the Rogues.

"Son, just don't." Steve said at the same time Clint said, "This doesn't concern you, kid."

Peter had never been known for backing away from a fight. "If Mr. Stark said he didn't do anything, then he _didnt do anything._ If you don't back up _right_ _now I swear to God I'll--"_

"What, huh?" Clint taunted. "Just what the hell is a kid like you going to do?"

Tony watched in near horror as Clint made the mistake of laying a hand on Peter. In a flash, he grabbed Clint's hand, twisted his arm behind his back and launched him across the room. He landed 50 feet away, his body hitting the wall and collapsing onto the ground.

" _Clint!"_ Wanda shrieked as Steve and Sam ran over to their teammate. The witch turned on Peter, a venomous look in her eyes and her hands producing angry red sparks. He knew that look, had seen that look in Sokovia and Lagos. Without thinking, Tony grabbed Peter by the shoulder and threw him to the ground, closing his eyes and waiting for the blow meant for the kid to hit him.

 

It never came.

 

 

"W-What?" Wanda said, fear and worry seeping into her voice. Tony risked opening his eyes and saw Wanda looking down at her hands. "What did you do? _What did you do?!"_

 

 _"_ He didn't do anything."

 

God, Tony had never been happier to hear that man's voice.

 

"I did," Stephen said, walking towards them in his full wizard garb, the cloak lifting off his shoulders and zooming over to help Peter off the floor. "I limited your magic, Ms. Maximoff. Cut it off, you might say. I feel the need to remind you that I am _much_ more powerful than you are. Compared to me? You are nothing."

Wanda let out a strangled yelp and moved her hands in intricate motions as if unable to grasp the fact that her magic wasn't there. "You-- you _monster!"_

"If anyone is the monster here, it is you, Ms. Maximoff, attempting to attack a _child,"_ he snarled. "You should ashamed."

Tony watched as Stephen glared her down, Wanda wavering under the man's piercing glare. "Be glad I didn't take your magic away, _permanently_."

Even from across the room, the look of fear in Steve and Sam's eyes were evident, and Tony didn't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Then he saw figures standing in the door frame, two people he hadn't seen in _years_. They had definitely changed, it was obvious by their looks, but it was also in the way they walked together as if they were supporting one another. The Rogues seemed to notice them the same time Tony did, their eye's widening as the pair walked into the room.

 _That's what I came to tell you about,_ Stephen's voice said inside Tony's head. _They arrived a few minutes ago._

 

"Well, Midgardians," Thor Odinson announced, Dr. Bruce Banner right next to him. 

 

"It seems we have missed a few things. Would anyone care to fill us in?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late holidays and late New Years!!!
> 
> I'm so sorry this chapter came out late, ive LITERALLY been working it to death since I posted the last chapter. So yeah. Took me a few weeks just to write this. 
> 
> \- I doubt Vision would ever get truly mad enough to hurt someone like he threatened to in this chapter, but lets be honest, that'd be badass. 
> 
> \- I tried to make a good blend of fluff and light and angst so yay!! 
> 
> \- If people could stop sleeping on Rhodey and Tony's friendship that'd be very nice 
> 
> \- Peter will fite anyone to defend Tony's honor, you can't change my mind. 
> 
> \- Im sorry Clint :((( 
> 
> \- I'm not sorry Wanda :)))
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!!! Please please please comment and leave kudos!!


	8. Update

Y'all, I'm sorry. I dont ever have to do this, but this fic has gotten such a high reader count (I love y'all so much) but rn things are catching up to me and I have to take a hiatus. I SWEAR that im continuing this story, i have way too much I wanna do with it. This isn't a goodbye, this is a short farewell between friends ok? 

I'm sorry I let you guys down.


	9. Chapter 9

 

 

Peter Parker had a few defining moments in his life:

 

 

When Peter was _six_ , he came to realize he liked boys. It wasn't a big issue, just a simple understanding of something he had been wondering for a while.  Understanding. His parents still loved him after he told them, though they were confused as to why their young daughter felt the need to tell them she liked boys. But it mattered to Peter, so his parents held him and kissed his cheeks. That was when he found out his parents loved him no matter what.

 

 

When Peter was _nine_ , his parents took him to the Stark Expo. Despite everything that happened that night, almost dying, he still fell in love with science and all the doors it opened for him. He even got to meet Ironman! Somewhat. He had helped! Instantly, his role models went from being TV actors to Dr. Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner, much to his parents delight. That was when he knew what he wanted to do with his life.

 

 

When Peter was _twelve_ , he realized he was a he. That realization was a bit more difficult, especially since his parents weren't there to comfort him, make him feel loved. Uncle Ben and Aunt May loved him, that never changed, and suddenly his name became "Peter." His old name was a dead weight that could finally be laid to rest. He was still the same, but happier. He cut his hair, began dressing differently, and was able to live his life he wanted to. Even if the kids at school weren't very nice, he was happy. That was when life started getting better.

 

 

When Peter was _fourteen_ , they lost Uncle Ben. Looking back, he knew it was selfish to abandon May in her time of need, but he simply couldn't handle the pain. He lost it, running out into the storming night despite Aunt May's yelling after him, and didn't even notice when the spider bit him. He spent the following month hunched over toilet bowls, throwing up and trembling in fear. He didn't know what was going on with him, but he knew. He knew he couldn't tell May. That was when he became Spider-man.

 

 

When Peter was _fifteen_ , he met Tony Stark. _Actually_ met Tony Stark. It was a dream Peter never thought he'd be able to achieve, thinking the Expo when he was nine would have been the extent of his exposure to Stark. Then Mr. Stark made him his own suit, and he fought Captain America and his team of Ex-Vengers in Germany. He was, like, basically an Avenger. God, Aunt May would have killed him if she knew. That was when he started believing he could actually make a difference as a superhero.

 

 

When Peter was _sixteen_ , he came to realize that the new Avengers became additions to his family. Every single one of them took him under their wing, except for Deadpool, who never spoke to him. Well, never spoke to _Peter_. He seemed to tolerate Spiderman a lot, which Peter didn't know how to feel about. America and Carol taught him to fight, Hope and Rhodey taught him to be a diplomat, Harley taught him about being a mechanic with Mr. Stark, and he even got to help train a 2nd Spiderman named Miles. He had already gotten closer to Mr. Stark than he ever thought would be possible. But then one day, he was coming back from a field trip and something attacked New York. He didn't know that day would change everything. That was when Thanos came along.

 

 

When Peter was _seventeen_ , he sobbed into Mr. Stark's arm when he came back after the decimation. Cried for the hours and days and weeks and months spent away, for the fact that he died, for the fact that Mr Stark had to go through it all _alone_. What was even more painful was that Mr. Stark hugged back just as fiercely and sobbed even louder.That was when he knew Mr. Stark was one of the most important people in his life.

 

 

Still _seventeen_ , he made the move into the Compound to train. He visited May on the weekends and it was agreed he'd stay with her during the summer. That was when he first started seeing Mr. Stark as a father figure and Deadpool as... something else; The two had started something of a routine.

It had started by accidentally patrolling on the top of the same building. Peter didn't think much of it, they had never spoken more than a few words. Mr Stark had warned him that while he wasn't much older than Peter, he had done stuff. That he was dangerous. Frankly, Peter didn't think Deadpool was a threat to him at all, but he still took Mr. Stark's words carefully. But after that, Deadpool would sometimes show up after patrols on that same building, just to say hi.

Then it became a daily thing. After a week or so, Deadpool bought them chimichangas.

" _Thought you could use something to eat, Spidey-Pie!"_

He'd never admit it, but the pet name was adorable and he felt his cheeks warm up.

He would nod, thank him, and roll his mask up to his nose to eat. A few days into the routine, he saw Deadpool was hesitant to take off his own mask.

Peter had been hit with the revelation that he had never seen the merc without his mask off. There must have been a reason for it, but if there was anything Peter had learned as an Avenger, it was that everyone had their reasons for their suits. He wasn't going to push Deadpool, but that didn't mean he was going to let him Peter was an insensitive jerk.

 " _You can take it off_ ," Peter had said nonchalantly, looking out at the skyline as his legs hung over the ledge. He still wasn't ready for DP to know it was him, so he used a voice modulator. " _I won't judge, and you need to eat too."_

Hesitantly, he did. Only up to the bridge of his nose, but that was when he first saw DP's scars, the burn marks covering him. It was obvious by the way Deadpool's eye-slits widened that he had expected Peter to scream or wince or gasp. He hadn't. Just looked for a second and smiled.

 

" _You have some schmutz. On your bottom lip."_

 

The tension in the air evaporated, and Deadpool smiled back.

" _You're a good person, Spidey. I'm not like that, not anymore. I don't even deserve to be in your presence_."

Peter thought that was bullshit in all honesty and made sure Deadpool knew it. He wouldn't have been an X-Man, a part of Special Forces, and an Avenger if he wasn't good.

Plus, he was Canadian!  

After that day, they got closer. They started doing their patrols together and eating on rooftops or in late night diners. Started marking stupid inside jokes. Even busted a drug ring together. Slowly, Peter's feelings grew. Months later, he realized he had fallen for the wise-cracking, funny, sweet, incredible ex-mercenary.

And how the actual fuck was he going to deal with that?

He could just bottle it up like he did with Liz and MJ, but somehow he had known he wouldn't be able to do that. Never one for subtlety, Peter just out and said it one night on the top of their building after patrol.

The night had been difficult for the both of them; they had witnessed a young woman get dragged into a van and after an hour of following them, had found an apartment in Queens with around 20 girls, almost all under age. The fight that followed hadn't lasted long, but it was still hard for him to be there. Deadpool had noticed and made sure he left before the cops arrived, if only to breathe.

They found each other on their rooftop a half-hour, Peter looking up at the sky. _"Spidey, you ok?"_  Without even thinking, Peter blurted it out." _I have feelings. For you."_

Deadpool had actually choked, clapping his own chest multiple times to control his breathing. " _What_?" Peter had winced a little. There was no going back " _I like you, Pool. Like, like you like you."_ God he had acted like a 10 year old. His heart sunk when Deadpool sighed, looked away from him. " _Spidey...you don't. You shouldn't. I-I'm a mess, I have so much blood on my hands, and I shouldn't even be alive. You deserve someone bett--"_

Peter had interrupted him. " _Don't you dare. Yes, you have a past. Don't think I don't know that. But...I know you. The you that always makes sure I eat. The you who walks women home at night if they ask. The you who wanted to kill that human trafficker tonight but didn't! Just because I asked. I know you. The you who is such an incredible human being. Because that's who you are, Pool. Human_." During his spiel, Peter had gotten closer, walking towards the man as if he could run at any moment. " _I like you. Because you're you."_

In that moment, as corny as it is to say, Peter felt like they were the only two people in the world.  

_"Baby boy, are you sure? This..._ I'm _a lot to handle."_

 

" _I'm sure_."

 

 

 

Everything changed, and nothing changed. Deadpool was still Deadpool, but somehow softer. He was always with him, and physical contact became a big thing with them: a hand on the shoulder, an arm slung over his shoulder, their ankles pressed together. 

Deadpool also grew into the habit of shouting poorly written love poems whilst fighting. Peter would fighting some baddie while DP would be shooting, all the while screaming " _Roses are red, violets are blue, I bet you're cute, but I know your ass is too!"_

On his _eighteenth_ birthday, DP decided to take Peter to a 24 hour diner. Even got a cab to take them ( _"I'm a gentleman, Spidey!") w_ hich was fun since the driver apparently knew Deadpool and played Hindi music on the way over.

The food had been good and the girl waiting on them was nice, if a bit giddy to be serving them. They spent hours there, laughing over their food and dumb jokes. They had left around three in the morning, stupid because Peter had things to do the next d-- _in a few hours_ , and walked down the dark, terrifying streets of New York. Every once and a while, a random person would walk down the street, and even though he was in his suit and could easily take a civilian, he felt himself shrink. Peter tried to calm down the fear in him, but he couldn't ignore the constant warnings he got as a small child: " _A girl shouldn't walk home alone at night."_ He hated himself for even thinking of it.

Wade had seemed to notice so he pulled him into an alleyway. " _What's wrong?"_

_"Nothing. I'm fine."_

_"Nonono, I know you too Spidey. Something's wrong. This ain't you, sweetheart."_

If they wanted whatever _this_ was to work, they were gonna have to be honest with each other. For a while, Peter had been wondering if he could take off his mask, thinking they were already close. But he had been. Less than a year ago, Deadpool hadn't even acknowledged Peter's presence in the Compound. What if this just changed that?

Shakily, he brought his hands up.

Deadpool seemed to know what he was doing. " _Spidey..."_

_"You're right. This isn't Spiderman's problem."_ He pulled his mask off and the voice modulator with it. " _But it is Peter's."_

Wade's eye slits had widened, scanning Peter's face up and down. Just when Peter thought he would laugh, or yell, or do _anything_ and leave, he had just... laughed. " _Well this is just plain ironic_."

" _W-What?"_

" _Peter..."_ He would have been lying if he said that Deadpool saying his name like that hadn't sent chills down his spine. " _Why do you think I stayed away from you all these years? You're... you're so_ good. _When we first met, you were a ball of energy, smiling so brightly. And I didn't want to ruin that. So I didn't go near you."_

_"T-That is so stupid."_

_Deadpool laughed. "Yeah, well I was eighteen. I was an idiot. Obviously. Now, can you tell me what's wrong?"_

Tears had welled up in his eyes and a sob escaped his lips. " _Y-You'll hate me."_

_"I would never."_

He had broken down sobbing. " _I-I'm trans and m-my paranoia is really bad right now because girls shouldn't w-walk a-at night and I-I'm sorry I-I know you t-think I'm a-a monster an-nd y-y---"_

Deadpool had torn off his mask so quickly Peter barely registered it. He stopped midsentence as he took in DP's face, scars and all; _absolutely beautiful._

" _Petey-Pie, I promise. You are not a monster. For the longest time, I thought I was, because of these scars. But you told me otherwise. All that self hatred and depressive thoughts were gone. Because of you. Nothing you could tell me about yourself could convince me you're a monster. You're trans. And there is nothing wrong with that."_

Peter began sobbing again, and this time Deadpool brought him into a hug, humming a melody as he let Peter cry it out. It seemed only right that he pull back and raise himself on his tip toes to kiss Deadpool right there and then, putting everything he could into it. Deadpool had been hesitant to kiss back, but Peter cupped his face and he let himself go. Peter didn't know, but he was the first person to not recoil at the feeling of his scars. Wade would always be grateful for that.

The pair stayed in the alley, kissing until they had to break apart for air. Peter laid his forehead against  Deadpool's and the two caught their breath.

" _I think--"_ Deadpool whispered against Peter's lips. " _I think it's time I tell you; my name's Wade. Wade Wilson."_

Peter had laughed, sniffling as he attempted to wipe away his tears. " _Hi, Wade. I'm Peter Parker."_

Deadpool, _Wade_ , had grinned before pressing their lips together once more.

 

" _Happy birthday, Petey."_

 

That was the night Peter fell in love

 

\-----

Dr. Bruce Banner and Thor Odinson were right in front of Peter, _right in front of him!_ Two men (do Gods count as men? Peter would have to ask later) he had idolized his entire life, and he couldn't even speak to them! Well, in all fairness, he couldn't speak to anyone.

Any person who glanced in his direction could feel the anger rolling off him.

Surrounded by all members of the Avengers Initiative, Peter sat in the conference room, near murderous thoughts on his mind as he glared at the Rogues. After the scuffle that had occured an hour before hand, Rhodey came back to the Compound with his fiance, forcing them all to a meeting and saying he would murder someone. Peter thought the same. If he could, he'd have Dr. Strange send them to the Dark Dimension and never let them come back. It was what they deserved, but he couldn't. Not because Dr. Strange wouldn't want to, Peter was honestly surprised he hadn't already, but because Wade was on one side of him and Harley on the other.

Both of them were holding onto him in some way; Wade was holding his hand and Harley had his hand on Peter's shoulder. He wasn't sure if the physical contact was for his sake or their own.

Rightfully so, they were all furious; Harley was Tony's son and Peter's brother in every sense of the word and while Wade was nowhere near close to Mr. Stark as they were, he was mad that they had tried to target him, not even knowing he was Enhanced. When they first came back, Harley had said the Rogues were going to have to work for his respect and Wade shared the sentiment, but Peter could never. He didn't, didn't want to, know what they did in to Tony in Siberia, but he knew it was unforgivable. This night, this _attack_ , just sent them all over the edge.

"You," Rhodey seethed, pointing a finger at the Rogues. They all sat, isolated from the rest, in various stages of consciousness and injuries. But none of them were able to look away from the man in front of them. "What the hell were you thinking?" Rhodey yelled.

Peter physically recoiled; Rhodey rarely yelled, even when missions went dangerously wrong. This was an entirely new side of Rhodey, one that came out with protecting his best friend. Peter almost pitied the Rogues but just one glance at Tony, who was sitting as far from Rogers as he could looking small and pale, made him forget any pity.

Sensing more hostility than necessary, Hope laid a hand on his shoulder, but even Miss van Dyne wouldn't be able to hold Rhodey back. The Rogues had targeted Rhodey's closest friend and that was a line that should never be crossed.

None of the Rogues were able to give the man an answer, all looking down or looking uncomfortable. Peter relished in the look of unease on Steve Roger's face. After a second of hesitation, he spoke. "A teammate was hurt, Rhodey, we did w--"

"That is Colonel Rhodes to you!" Rhodey snapped, effectively shutting Rogers up. Everyone sat a little straighter, watching as the Rogues cowered in their own seats under Rhodey's gaze. Steve put on his "I'm-Captain-America-pity-me" face, which Peter knew would do nothing. “You will adress me properly.”

"Rhodey, please, this is--"

"May I remind you, _Captain_ ," Rhodey spat. "That as a Colonel, I outrank you? As of now, you will not speak unless spoken to, do I make myself clear?"

 

This time, Steve didn't answer.

 

Rhodey slammed his hands on the table, making everyone on either side jump. "Do I make myself clear?!"

"Sir, yes sir." Steve gritted out, sporting a look of angerPeter had never seen. It was the look of a man who didn't like being told what to do, a man who went against over 150 countries just to save his friend. In every photo, every video, every interaction Peter had seen, Steve Rogers looked pleasant and happy at all times. This was a completely different man.  
  


 

This was the man who left Tony Stark a broken shell in Siberia.  
  


 

"If I may interject," a new voice said from all around them and no where at all. A look of confusion passed everyone except for Stephen and Tony. Well, and Peter. He had been a part of the plan since the beginning.

Everyone else looked around for the source until a man suddenly appeared at Thor's side. He was skinny, scrawny even, with jet black hair and alabaster (Peter was proud to say he knew that word) skin. He was wearing an intricate suit of armor, colors of blues and greens with a heavy gold cloak around his shoulders. "I believe we are all just a tad bit confused."

The Rogues nearly jumped out of their seat, and the Avengers werent off that much better, all looking at the God of Mischief that was now in their presence.

"You," Clint growled, glaring at the green-clad figure in anger.

"Hello, Midgardians," Loki Odinson said, looking around the room with a smile. He winked as his eyes found Peter, a reassuring one that did make him feel a bit better. "It has been quite some time."

“Why are you here?" Steve asked angrily, gaining himself a look of anger and exasperation from Rhodey.

"Loki is here with the rest of the Asgardian refugees." Hope said, attempting to direct the attention back to her and Rhodey. A murmur went up at the word 'Refugee' since no one knew about the fate of Asgard save for Tony, Rhodey, Stephen, and Peter. "He is under the protection of the United States of America."

"Protected!?" Steve yelled, bewilderment evident in his voice. “This man destroyed New Y--"

 

He fell silent.

 

Steve gaped, reaching for his throat as his mouth formed words but no sound came out. He turned to look at Loki, pure anger on his face, but Peter saw the look of curiosity on the God's face. Though he hadn't known Loki long, he knew Loki's mannerisms. He was proud of his pranks and mischief, a smirk ever present whenever one succeeded. This wasn't Loki's doing.

"Defying direct orders from your superior?" Stephen taunted from across the table in a low voice, and everyone turned to see the man smirking. "Bold move, Rogers. Even for you.”

"You did this?" Wanda snarled, and she lifted her hands. No red aura surrounded her and she looked down before remembering her magic was blocked.

Stephen simply lifted an eyebrow. "Well yes. Simple spell, one you could learn if you weren't behaving like a child and refusing training.”

“That's enough!” Rhodey said, looking between the two magic users. “Wanda, be quiet. Stephen… just don't do it again.” Then he turned to the rest of the Rogues, all of them with anger or fear in their eyes.  “Like Ms. van Dyne said, Loki is under protection from the U.S. Government. Any attempts on him will be dealt with harshly and your stay at the Avengers Compound will be terminated.”

At this, Dr. Banner's eyebrows shot up and he exchanged a confused look with Thor. “Alright, we're with Loki on this. Can someone explain what the hell we missed?!”

It seemed as if nobody was able to speak suddenly, and everyone turned to Tony. For one of the first times ever, he looked small and so tired, it hurt Peter's heart.

 

He couldn't stand by and watch.

 

“The Avengers,” Peter said, and everyone turned to him. Harley and Wade's grips on him were tighter, but he forced himself to finish. “Broke up a few years ago”

“What? Broke up?! Like the Beatles?!”

“Yeah Brucie” Tony croaked out. “Like the Beatles.”

“I do not understand,” Thor spoke slowly, confusion on his gorge-- _regularly attractive face._ “Last we spoke, we were all a team. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.”

“Things change Point Break.” Tony muttered.

“B-But there must have been a good reason, right? You guys wouldn't just…” Dr. Banner trailed off, gesturing oddly into the air. Oof, Peter had never related to anything more in his life.

“There's no easy way to explain it,” Tony sighed, running a hand over his face. “But there is someone who would be able to.” He looked up at his cieling. “FRIDAY!”

“Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“...pull up the footage in the Rogue folder.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.”

 

 

\-----

 

 

Peter Parker had a few defining moments in his life.

Now 18, he sat down as newsreel after newsreel played on the screen in front of him. He watched footage of Shuri's father moments before the U.N. was bombed, watched Captain America and his croonies fight the Black Panther in a highway before being arrested, watched as newscasters proclaimed that he was a terrorist, watched shaky security footage of himself fighting the Rogues in the airport. And then it was over.

Even as the screen went black, no one could tear their eyes away. No one wanted to. Before anyone could break the silence, either to justify their actions or to reprimend anothers, FRIDAY spoke again.

 

_“B-Boss_?”

 

At the glitching in her voice, Tony looked up. “Baby girl?” He yelled, concern tearing through his voice. Even Peter looked up, frantic even though FRIDAY was just an AI.

 

_“B-Boss there's a c-corrupted f-f-file. One I-I didn't put-t-t. I c-can't c-contro--”_

 

Suddenly, FRIDAY was gone. The screen flickered on and grainy footage of a dark night showed. Tony's sharp inhale of breathe didn't escape his notice, but Peter's eyes were stuck on that screen. Less than a second in, a car crashed, and man on a motorcycle appeared. Peter's heart dropped and multiple gasps rose as the unknown man threw open the car door and dragged the near-unconscious man out of the vehicle. Peter watched in horror as the man was beat to death and then thrown back into the car. Then he noticed the woman in the passenger seat and wanted to look away when she received the same fate.

After...that the man seemed to notice the camera fixated on him, and looked directly into it. Even with the bad quality, Peter immediately recognized the man in front of him, both on the screen and across the table.

 

 

_James Buchanan Barnes_

 

 

Before the news could fully sink in, a much better quality video was shown. It was Tony, Rogers, and Barnes all in what looked like a bunker. Peter immediately knew this had to be Siberia. Peter saw Tony's reaction to the video. The video of a man he knew murdering....murdering his parents. He saw the moment Tony's eyes began to water, pain welling up. Barnes looked heartbroken as well, but Rogers...Rogers’ face held no trace of any emotion.

 

“ _Did you know?”_

 

_“Yes.”_

 

 

The fight that followed was intense, 2 against 1 as Tony blasted Rogers and Barnes over and over again before ultimately ending up on the floor. A sob escaped Peter’s lips as Captain America dug his shield into Tony's chest over and over and _over and over and over---_

 

 

The video ended.

 

 

That was when he finally learned all of Tony Stark's secrets.

 

 

\-----

 

 

The noise level was deafening; the Rogues were turning to Steve and Bucky to get answers, the Avengers were yelling at them, FRIDAY was back and apologizing profusely, Thor and Vision was attempting to mediate, and so much more that Peter could hardly begin to understand. He squeezed Wade's hand tighter than he should have, he felt the bones crack, and gripped Harley's shoulder. 

It wasn't until Stephen made intricate hand gestures that captured everyone's attention that the room fell silence. The spell burst towards Captain America and it hit him with so much force that he nearly fell over in his chair as he coughed.

" _Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you into the dark dimension right here and now_ _,"_ Stephen snarled, looking every inch ready to follow up on that threat. 

When Steve didn't answer, Rhodey intervened. "This pointless 'war' you started left 9 civilians dead, 5 with permanent injuries, and left countless more in pain. You _owe us_ an explanation."

"Wait," Clint interrupted, speaking for the first time during the entire meeting. "Civilians?"

"What? Did you think having two enhanced super soldiers fight against a team of average soldiers would end well? The team sent to extract Barnes was put in the hospital. Three of them were paralyzed, one died after he was thrown three stories down.

"The highway fight left a family dead. A mother and her two young daughters. A 21 year old boy's car was flipped and he died en route to the hospital. T'Challa at least had the good conscious to pay for the funerals and personally visit the deceaseds' family."

The room fell deadly silent, everyone waiting to see how Steve Rogers would respond.   
  


 

 

"I...I had to protect Bucky."   
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I am back! I am sorry for leaving you guys for so long, but i am so so so grateful to all of you for being so supportive of my need to get away from it all for a while. 
> 
> I appreciate you all so much, thank you. 
> 
> Anyways, i want paragraph long comments, y'all know this! Tell me your favorite parts of this chapter!!! 
> 
> Also, i have no idea how time accurate DP's backstory is, really, but I mean, I'd rather have a few plot holes than pedophilia so I mean 🙍
> 
> Thank you for reading and leaving kudos, I love y'all!!!


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